gaffle vs purloin

gaffle

verb
  • To steal 

  • To arrest for criminal activity. 

  • To equip with a gaffle or similar weapon. 

  • To talk without a purpose, usually about inane or pointless topics; to babble. 

  • To grab or seize 

  • To get hold of, to find. 

  • To swindle or bully (someone) 

noun
  • A steel spur attached to a gamecock (sometimes used figuratively). 

  • A portable fork of iron or wood in which the heavy musket formerly in use was rested that it might be accurately aimed and fired. 

purloin

verb
  • To commit theft; to thieve. 

  • To take the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully; to steal. 

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