fell vs ruin

fell

verb
  • To strike down, kill, destroy. 

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

  • simple past tense of fall 

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

adj
  • Very large; huge. 

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

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

noun
  • 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. 

  • An animal skin, hide, pelt. 

  • 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. 

adv
  • Sharply; fiercely. 

ruin

verb
  • To destroy or make something no longer usable. 

  • To seduce or debauch, and thus harm the social standing of. 

  • To make something less enjoyable or likeable. 

  • To upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something. 

  • To cause the fiscal ruin of; to bankrupt or drive out of business. 

  • To reveal the ending of (a story); to spoil. 

noun
  • The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed. 

  • A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow. 

  • The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle. 

  • The act of ruining something. 

  • Complete financial loss; bankruptcy. 

  • Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction. 

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