guillotine vs staple

guillotine

noun
  • A device used for cutting the pages of books, stacks of paper, etc., to straight edges, usually by means of a hinged or sliding blade attached to a flat platform. 

  • A legislative motion that debate be ended and a vote taken; a cloture. 

  • A parliamentary procedure for fixing the dates when various stages of discussion of a bill must end, to ensure that the enactment of the bill proceeds expeditiously. 

  • An instrument with a sliding blade for cutting the tonsils, uvula, or other body parts. 

  • A machine used for the application of capital punishment by decapitation, consisting of a tall upright frame from which is suspended a heavy diagonal-edged blade which is dropped onto the neck of the person to be executed; also, execution using this machine. 

verb
  • To end (a legislative debate) by invoking cloture. 

  • To cut or trim (a body part, a stack of paper, etc.) with a guillotine. 

  • To end discussion (about a parliamentary bill or part of one) by invoking a guillotine procedure. 

  • To execute (someone) with a guillotine. 

staple

noun
  • A wire fastener used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around. 

  • Unmanufactured material; raw material. 

  • A wire fastener used to secure something else by penetrating and curling. 

  • One of a set of U-shaped metal rods hammered into a structure, such as a piling or wharf, which serve as a ladder. 

  • A basic or essential supply. 

  • A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group. 

  • A U-shaped metal fastener, used to attach fence wire or other material to posts or structures. 

  • A small pit. 

  • A district granted to an abbey. 

  • Place of supply; source. 

  • The principal commodity produced in a town or region. 

  • A recurring topic or character. 

  • A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels. 

  • Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread. 

adj
  • Fit to be sold; marketable. 

  • Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities. 

  • Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled. 

  • Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief. 

verb
  • To sort according to its staple. 

  • To secure with a staple. 

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