gusset vs shim

gusset

noun
  • A small piece of cloth inserted in a garment, for the purpose of strengthening some part or giving it a tapering enlargement cf. godet. 

  • A large flat metal piece wider than the valley to help prevent build-up at the base of the valley, either from debris or ice dam formations. 

  • A kind of bracket, or angular piece of iron, fastened in the angles of a structure to give strength or stiffness; especially, the part joining the barrel and the fire box of a locomotive boiler. 

  • A gousset, a piece of mail providing protection where armor plates meet. 

  • An abatement or mark of dishonor in a coat of arms, resembling a gusset. 

verb
  • To make with a gusset; to sew a gusset into. 

shim

noun
  • A thin piece of material, sometimes tapered, used for alignment or support. 

  • A small library that transparently intercepts and modifies calls to an API, usually for compatibility purposes. 

  • A kind of shallow plow used in tillage to break the ground and clear it of weeds. 

  • A small metal device used to pick open a lock. 

  • A person characterised by both male and female traits, or by ambiguous male-female traits; a hermaphrodite. 

  • A wedge. 

  • A transsexual person, especially a trans woman; (loosely) a drag queen or transvestite. 

verb
  • To fit one or more shims to a piece of machinery. 

  • To adjust the homogeneity of a magnetic field, after the mechanical devices once used for the purpose. 

  • To adjust something by using shims. 

  • To intercept and modify calls to (an API), usually for compatibility purposes. 

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