floodgate vs spile

floodgate

noun
  • An adjustable gate or valve used to control the flow of water through a sluice. 

  • Anything that controls or limits an outpouring of people, emotion etc. 

spile

noun
  • A spigot or plug used to stop the hole in a barrel or cask. 

  • A pile; a post or girder. 

  • A spout inserted in a maple (or other tree) to draw off sap. 

verb
  • To provide (a barrel, tree etc.) with a spile. 

  • To support by means of spiles. 

  • spoil. 

  • To plug (a hole) with a spile. 

  • To draw off (a liquid) using a spile. 

  • To drive piles into. 

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