hairline vs taper

hairline

noun
  • A fishing line made from hair. 

  • The line along one's forehead where hair starts growing. 

  • A very thin line in writing, drawing, or typography. 

  • A very thin fissure. 

adj
  • very thin, as thin as a hair 

taper

noun
  • A cone-shaped item for stretching the hole for an ear gauge (piercing). 

  • A small light. 

  • Someone who works with tape or tapes. 

  • A thin stick used for lighting candles, either a wax-coated wick or a slow-burning wooden rod. 

  • One who operates a tape machine. 

  • A slender wax candle. 

  • A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness and/or cross section in an elongated object. 

verb
  • To diminish gradually. 

  • To become thinner or narrower at one end. 

  • To make thinner or narrower at one end. 

  • (of a central bank) To tighten monetary policy. 

adj
  • Tapered; narrowing to a point. 

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