dull vs ease

dull

verb
  • To lose a sharp edge; to become dull. 

  • To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp. 

  • To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy. 

  • To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. 

adj
  • Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding. 

  • Insensible; unfeeling. 

  • Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly. 

  • Sluggish, listless. 

  • Boring; not exciting or interesting. 

  • Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness. 

  • Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp. 

  • Cloudy, overcast. 

  • Heavy; lifeless; inert. 

  • Not clear, muffled. 

ease

verb
  • To lessen in intensity. 

  • To move (something) slowly and carefully. 

  • To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc. 

  • To reduce the difficulty of (something). 

  • To proceed with little effort. 

  • To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain). 

  • To loosen or slacken the tension on a line. 

  • To give respite to (someone). 

noun
  • Additional space provided to allow greater movement. 

  • Release from constraint, obligation, or a constrained position. 

  • Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance. 

  • Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth. 

  • Ability, the means to do something 

  • Freedom from difficulty. 

  • Skill, dexterity, facility. 

  • Freedom from worry and concern; peace; sometimes (derogatory, archaic) indifference. 

  • Freedom from effort, leisure, rest. 

  • Freedom from financial effort or worry; affluence. 

  • Freedom from embarrassment or awkwardness; grace. 

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