fell vs pelt

fell

noun
  • An animal skin, hide, pelt. 

  • Human skin (now only as a metaphorical use of previous sense). 

  • The stitching down of a fold of cloth; specifically, the portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down. 

  • A rocky ridge or chain of mountains. 

  • A wild field or upland moor. 

  • A cutting-down of timber. 

  • The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft. 

  • The finer portions of ore, which go through the meshes when the ore is sorted by sifting. 

adj
  • Very large; huge. 

  • Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent 

  • Of a strong and cruel nature; eager and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage. 

adv
  • Sharply; fiercely. 

verb
  • To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat. 

  • simple past tense of fall 

  • To strike down, kill, destroy. 

  • To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree. 

pelt

noun
  • The fur or hair of a living animal. 

  • A blow or stroke from something thrown. 

  • A tattered or worthless piece of clothing; a rag. 

  • The skin of an animal with the hair or wool on; either a raw or undressed hide, or a skin preserved with the hair or wool on it (sometimes worn as a garment with minimal modification). 

  • The skin of an animal (especially a goat or sheep) with the hair or wool removed, often in preparation for tanning. 

  • Human skin, especially when bare; also, a person's hair. 

  • A beating or falling down of hailstones, rain, or snow in a shower. 

  • An act of moving quickly; a rush. 

  • Anything in a ragged and worthless state; rubbish, trash. 

verb
  • Chiefly followed by at: to (continuously) throw (missiles) at. 

  • Especially of hailstones, rain, or snow: to beat down or fall forcefully or heavily; to rain down. 

  • To repeatedly beat or hit (someone or something). 

  • To remove the skin from (an animal); to skin. 

  • To force (someone or something) to move using blows or the throwing of missiles. 

  • Of a number of small objects (such as raindrops), or the sun's rays: to beat down or fall on (someone or something) in a shower. 

  • To move rapidly, especially in or on a conveyance. 

  • Chiefly followed by from: to remove (the skin) from an animal. 

  • To bombard (someone or something) with missiles. 

  • To assail (someone) with harsh words in speech or writing; to abuse, to insult. 

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