den vs grotto

den

noun
  • A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment. 

  • Synonym of fort (“structure improvised from furniture, etc. for playing games.”) 

  • A comfortable room not used for formal entertaining. 

  • A group of Cub Scouts of the same age who work on projects together. 

  • A squalid or wretched place; a haunt. 

verb
  • To ensconce or hide oneself in (or as in) a den. 

grotto

noun
  • A small cave. 

  • A Marian shrine, usually built in a cavern-like structure. 

  • An artificial cavern-like retreat. 

  • A local organization of cavers that typically organizes trips to caves and provides information and training for caving; a caving club. 

  • A secretive name for a local group of underground Satanists. 

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