earnest vs front money

earnest

noun
  • A sum of money paid in advance as a deposit; hence, a pledge, a guarantee, an indication of something to come. 

  • Gravity; serious purpose; earnestness. 

  • Seriousness; reality; actuality (as opposed to joking or pretence) 

adj
  • Intent; focused; showing a lot of concentration. 

  • Serious or honest. 

  • Strenuous; diligent. 

  • Focused in the pursuit of an objective; eager to obtain or do. 

  • Serious; weighty; of a serious, weighty, or important nature; important. 

  • Possessing or characterised by seriousness. 

verb
  • To be serious with; use in earnest. 

front money

noun
  • Money paid for goods or services in advance, sometimes through an intermediary. 

  • Capital which is required in order to establish a business and begin operations. 

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