crab vs curb

crab

verb
  • To back out of something. 

  • To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to maintain a straight-line course. 

  • To move in a manner that involves keeping low and clinging to surfaces. 

  • To ruin. 

  • To fish for crabs. 

  • To move (a camera) sideways. 

  • To be ill-tempered; to complain or find fault. 

  • To complain about. 

  • To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick 

  • To drift or move sideways or to leeward (by analogy with the movement of a crab). 

  • To complain. 

noun
  • The meat of this crustacean, served as food; crabmeat. 

  • A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc. 

  • A playing card with the rank of three. 

  • The crab apple or wild apple. 

  • The tree bearing crab apples, which has a dogbane-like bitter bark with medical use. 

  • A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn. 

  • A claw for anchoring a portable machine. 

  • The tree species Carapa guianensis, native to South America. 

  • A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc. 

  • A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace. 

  • An infestation of pubic lice (Pthirus pubis). 

  • A position in rowing where the oar is pushed under the rigger by the force of the water. 

  • A defect in an outwardly normal object that may render it inconvenient and troublesome to use. 

  • A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick. 

  • The angle by which an aircraft's nose is pointed upwind of its groundtrack to compensate for crosswinds during an approach to landing; its crab angle. 

  • The state of an aircraft's nose being pointed upwind of its groundtrack to compensate for crosswinds during an approach to landing. 

  • A bad-tempered person. 

curb

verb
  • To rein in. 

  • To bend or curve. 

  • 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 crab and curb occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )