fossick vs root about

fossick

verb
  • To search for something; to rummage. 

  • To search for gems, gold, etc., on the surface or in abandoned workings. 

  • To be troublesome. 

  • To elicit information; to ferret out. 

root about

verb
  • To rummage; to look for something in a somewhat aimless fashion. 

  • To search for something in a similar manner. 

  • To forage by poking the snout here and there. 

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