ear to the ground vs understanding

ear to the ground

noun
  • The practice or characteristic of carefully gathering information; a state or mindset of attentiveness. 

  • Pursuing the practice or having the characteristic of carefully gathering information; well-informed. 

understanding

noun
  • The act of one that understands or comprehends; comprehension; knowledge; discernment. 

  • Opinion, judgement or outlook. 

  • An informal contract; mutual agreement. 

  • A reconciliation of differences. 

  • Sympathy. 

  • Reason or intelligence, ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge, ability to infer. 

adj
  • Showing compassion, tolerance, and forbearance. 

How often have the words ear to the ground and understanding occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )