cant vs curb

cant

verb
  • To bevel an edge or corner. 

  • To give a sudden turn or new direction to. 

  • To talk, beg, or preach in a singsong or whining fashion, especially in a false or empty manner. 

  • To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup. 

  • To speak in set phrases. 

  • To set (something) at an angle. 

  • Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms. 

  • To overturn so that the contents are emptied. 

noun
  • An outer or external angle. 

  • A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms. 

  • Slope, the angle at which something is set. 

  • A corner (of a building). 

  • A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask. 

  • Whining speech, such as that used by beggars. 

  • A movement or throw that overturns something. 

  • A parcel, a division. 

  • A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group. 

  • A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta. 

  • An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup. 

  • Empty, hypocritical talk. 

  • An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt. 

  • A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given. 

  • A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads. 

  • An unfinished log after preliminary cutting. 

  • A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel. 

adj
  • Lively, lusty. 

curb

verb
  • To bend or curve. 

  • To rein in. 

  • To furnish with a curb, as a well; to restrain by a curb, as a bank of earth. 

  • To crouch; to cringe. 

  • To damage vehicle wheels or tires by running into or over a pavement curb. 

  • To check, restrain or control. 

  • To bring to a stop beside a curb. 

noun
  • Something that checks or restrains; a restraint. 

  • A swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness. 

  • A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand) 

  • A riding or driving bit for a horse that has rein action which amplifies the pressure in the mouth by leverage advantage placing pressure on the poll via the crown piece of the bridle and chin groove via a curb chain. 

  • A sidewalk, covered or partially enclosed, bordering the airport terminal road system with adjacent paved areas to permit vehicles to off-load or load passengers. 

  • A raised margin along the edge of something, such as a well or the eye of a dome, as a strengthening. 

How often have the words cant and curb occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )