gruel vs trouble

gruel

noun
  • punishment 

  • A thin, watery porridge, formerly eaten primarily by the poor and the ill. 

  • something that lacks substance 

  • semen 

verb
  • ejaculate 

  • To exhaust, use up, disable 

  • to punish 

trouble

noun
  • Liability to punishment; conflict with authority. 

  • A difficulty, problem, condition, or action contributing to such a situation. 

  • A fault or interruption in a stratum. 

  • A malfunction. 

  • A violent occurrence or event. 

  • Efforts taken or expended, typically beyond the normal required. 

  • Wife. Clipping of trouble and strife. 

  • A distressing or dangerous situation. 

verb
  • In weaker sense: to bother or inconvenience. 

  • To mentally distress; to cause (someone) to be anxious or perplexed. 

  • To worry; to be anxious. 

  • To take pains to do something. 

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