dust vs sprinkle

dust

verb
  • To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid. 

  • To remove dust; to clean by removing dust. 

  • To leave; to rush off. 

  • To kill. 

  • Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth. 

  • To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate. 

  • To remove dust from. 

noun
  • The act of cleaning by dusting. 

  • Submicron particles in outer space, largely silicates and carbon compounds, that contribute greatly to extinction at visible wavelengths. 

  • The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body. 

  • A disturbance or uproar. 

  • A low or mean condition. 

  • Something worthless. 

  • Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc. 

  • The earth, as the resting place of the dead. 

  • A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure. 

sprinkle

verb
  • To cover (an object) by sprinkling a substance on to it. 

  • To drip in fine drops, sometimes sporadically. 

  • To baptize by the application of a few drops, or a small quantity, of water; hence, to cleanse; to purify. 

  • To rain very lightly outside. 

  • To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance). 

noun
  • An aspersorium or utensil for sprinkling. 

  • A light rain shower. 

  • A small hard piece of sugar and starch, or chocolate, used to decorate cakes etc. 

  • A light covering with a sprinkled substance. 

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