flipper vs pick up

flipper

verb
  • To lift one or both flippers out of the water and slap the surface of the water. 

noun
  • Television remote control, clicker. 

  • A type of ball bowled by a leg spin bowler, which spins backwards and skids off the pitch with a low bounce. 

  • A flat lever in a pinball machine, triggered by the player to strike the ball and keep it in play. 

  • A kind of false tooth, usually temporary. 

  • A small flat used to support a larger one. 

  • Someone who flips, in the sense of buying a house or other asset and selling it quickly for profit. 

  • Someone who flips in any other sense, for example throwing a coin. 

  • In marine mammals such as whales, a wide flat limb, adapted for swimming. 

  • A flat, wide, paddle-like rubber covering for the foot, used in swimming. 

  • A kitchen spatula. 

pick up

verb
  • To lift; to grasp and raise. 

  • To acquire (something) accidentally; to catch (a disease). 

  • To collect and detain (a suspect). 

  • To clean up; to return to an organized state. 

  • To point out the behaviour, habits, or actions of (a person) in a critical manner; used with on. 

  • To meet and seduce somebody for romantic purposes, especially in a social situation. 

  • To receive calls; to function correctly. 

  • To record; to notch up. 

  • To learn, to grasp; to begin to understand; to realize. 

  • To promote somebody who was previously passed over. 

  • To collect an object, especially in passing. 

  • To answer a telephone. 

  • To take control (physically) of something. 

  • To mark, to defend against an opposition player by following them closely. 

  • To behave in a manner that results in a foul. 

  • To restart or resume. 

  • To receive (a radio signal or the like). 

  • To notice, detect or discern; to pick up on 

  • To improve, increase, or speed up. 

  • To reduce the despondency of. 

  • To pay for. 

  • To obtain and publish a story, news item, etc. 

  • To collect a passenger. 

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