first-rate vs gammon

first-rate

noun
  • A first-rate ship of the line. 

adj
  • Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having at least 100 guns across three gun decks, a complement of 850–875, and weighing approximately 2,500 tons burthen. 

  • Superb, exceptional; of the best sort; very high quality. 

gammon

noun
  • A rope fastening a bowsprit to the stem of a ship (usually called a gammoning). 

  • Backgammon (the game itself). 

  • A victory in backgammon achieved when the opponent has not borne off a single stone. 

  • A cut of quick-cured pork leg. 

  • A middle-aged or older right-wing, reactionary white man, or such men collectively. 

verb
  • To lash with ropes (on a ship). 

  • To cure bacon by salting. 

  • To beat by a gammon (without the opponent bearing off a stone). 

How often have the words first-rate and gammon occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )