fruit fly vs tick

fruit fly

noun
  • any insect of the Tephritidae family, whose larvae damage plant tissue. 

  • any insect of the Drosophilidae family, whose larvae feed on ripening fruit, especially the species Drosophila melanogaster that is used in genetic research. 

  • A woman who enjoys the company of homosexual men; a "fag hag". 

tick

noun
  • A tiny woodland arachnid of the suborder Ixodida. 

  • A mark on any scale of measurement; a unit of measurement. 

  • Credit, trust. 

  • The whinchat. 

  • A bird seen (or heard) by a birdwatcher, for the first time that day, year, trip, etc., and thus added to a list of observed birds. 

  • A jiffy (unit of time defined by basic timer frequency). 

  • A short period of time, particularly a second. 

  • Ticking. 

  • A periodic increment of damage or healing caused by an ongoing status effect. 

  • A sheet that wraps around a mattress; the cover of a mattress, containing the filling. 

  • A relatively quiet but sharp sound generally made repeatedly by moving machinery. 

  • A mark (✓) made to indicate agreement, correctness or acknowledgement. 

verb
  • To strike gently; to pat. 

  • To make a tick or checkmark. 

  • To go on trust, or credit. 

  • To work or operate, especially mechanically. 

  • To add (a bird) to a list of birds that have been seen (or heard). 

  • To give tick; to trust. 

  • To make a clicking noise similar to the movement of the hands in an analog clock. 

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