gripe vs mutter

gripe

noun
  • A complaint, often a petty or trivial one. 

  • A wire rope, often used on davits and other life raft launching systems. 

  • The compass or sharpness of a ship's stern under the water, having a tendency to make her keep a good wind. 

  • The piece of timber that terminates the keel at the fore end; the forefoot. 

  • Pinching and spasmodic pain in the intestines. 

  • An assemblage of ropes, dead-eyes, and hocks, fastened to ringbolts in the deck, to secure the boats when hoisted. 

verb
  • To suffer griping pains. 

  • To tend to come up into the wind, as a ship which, when sailing close-hauled, requires constant labour at the helm. 

  • To annoy or bother. 

  • To complain; to whine. 

mutter

noun
  • A repressed or obscure utterance; an instance of muttering. 

  • Peas. 

verb
  • To speak softly and incoherently, or with imperfect articulations. 

  • To make a sound with a low, rumbling noise. 

  • To utter words, especially complaints or angry expressions, indistinctly or with a low voice and lips partly closed; to say under one's breath. 

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