drop in the sea vs ray

drop in the sea

noun
  • A very small or insignificant amount; something of little importance. 

ray

noun
  • A tiny amount. 

  • A beam of light or radiation. 

  • A rib-like reinforcement of bone or cartilage in a fish's fin. 

  • A line extending indefinitely in one direction from a point. 

  • A marine fish with a flat body, large wing-like fins, and a whip-like tail. 

  • The letter ⟨/⟩, one of two which represent the r sound in Pitman shorthand. 

  • One of the spheromeres of a radiate, especially one of the arms of a starfish or an ophiuran. 

  • A radiating part of a flower or plant; the marginal florets of a compound flower, such as an aster or a sunflower; one of the pedicels of an umbel or other circular flower cluster; radius. 

verb
  • To expose to radiation. 

  • To radiate as if in rays. 

  • To emit something as if in rays. 

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