dent vs gouge

dent

noun
  • A tooth, as of a card, a gear wheel, etc. 

  • A type of maize/corn with a relatively soft outer hull, and a soft type of starch that shrinks at maturity to leave an indentation in the surface of the kernel. 

  • A sudden negative change, such as loss, damage, weakening, consumption or diminution, especially one produced by an external force, event or action 

  • A slot or a wire in a reed 

  • A minor impact or effect made upon something. 

  • A shallow deformation in the surface of an object, produced by an impact. 

verb
  • To impact something, producing a dent. 

  • To develop a dent or dents. 

gouge

noun
  • An incising tool that cuts blanks or forms for envelopes, gloves, etc., from leather, paper, or other materials. 

  • Soft material lying between the wall of a vein and the solid vein of ore. 

  • A bookbinder's tool with a curved face, used for blind tooling or gilding. 

  • An impostor. 

  • Information. 

  • An act of gouging. 

  • A cut or groove, as left by a gouge or something sharp. 

  • A chisel with a curved blade for cutting or scooping channels, grooves, or holes in wood, stone, etc. 

  • A cheat, a fraud; an imposition. 

verb
  • To make a groove, hole, or mark in by scooping with or as if with a gouge. 

  • To cheat or impose upon; in particular, to charge an unfairly or unreasonably high price. 

  • To use a gouge. 

  • To dig or scoop (something) out with or as if with a gouge; in particular, to use a thumb to push or try to push the eye (of a person) out of its socket. 

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