gather vs sling

gather

noun
  • A plait or fold in cloth, made by drawing a thread through it; a pucker. 

  • The soffit or under surface of the masonry required in gathering. See gather (transitive verb). 

  • A gathering. 

  • The inclination forward of the axle journals to keep the wheels from working outward. 

  • A blob of molten glass collected on the end of a blowpipe. 

verb
  • To grow gradually larger by accretion. 

  • To bring stitches closer together. 

  • To collect molten glass on the end of a tool. 

  • To accumulate over time, to amass little by little. 

  • To haul in; to take up. 

  • To infer or conclude; to know from a different source. 

  • To congregate, or assemble. 

  • Especially, to harvest food. 

  • To collect; normally separate things. 

  • To bring parts of a whole closer. 

  • To gain; to win. 

  • To be filled with pus 

  • To add pleats or folds to a piece of cloth, normally to reduce its width. 

  • To bring together, or nearer together, in masonry, as for example where the width of a fireplace is rapidly diminished to the width of the flue. 

sling

noun
  • A loop of cloth, worn around the neck, for supporting a baby or other such load. 

  • A strap attached to a firearm, for suspending it from the shoulder. 

  • A loop of rope or fabric tape used for various purposes: e.g. as part of a runner, or providing extra protection when abseiling or belaying. 

  • A drink composed of a spirit (usually gin) and water sweetened. 

  • A band of rope or iron for securing a yard to a mast. 

  • The act or motion of hurling as with a sling; a throw; figuratively, a stroke. 

  • A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering. 

  • An instrument for throwing stones or other missiles, consisting of a short strap with two strings fastened to its ends, or with a string fastened to one end and a light stick to the other. 

  • A kind of hanging bandage put around the neck, in which a wounded arm or hand is supported. 

  • A young or infant spider, such as one raised in captivity. 

verb
  • To pass a rope around (a cask, gun, etc.) preparatory to attaching a hoisting or lowering tackle. 

  • To throw with a sling. 

  • To throw with a circular or arcing motion. 

  • To sell, peddle, or distribute (often illicitly, e.g. drugs, sex, etc.). 

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