harpoon vs shotgun

harpoon

verb
  • To shoot something with a harpoon. 

noun
  • A spearlike weapon with a barbed head used in hunting whales and large fish. 

  • A harmonica. 

shotgun

verb
  • To employ the technique of shotgun debugging. 

  • To send out many (requests, answers to a question, etc), especially in the hope that one obtains a positive result (i.e. reveals useful information, is correct, etc), in the manner of a shotgun firing many balls of shot such that one may hit a target. 

  • To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher. 

  • To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else’s mouth. 

  • To rapidly drink a beverage from a can by making a hole in the bottom of the can, placing the hole above one's mouth, and opening the top. 

  • To verbally lay claim to (something) 

noun
  • The front passenger seat in a vehicle, next to the driver; so called because the position of the shotgun-armed guard on a horse-drawn stage-coach, wagon train, or gold transport was next to the driver on a forward-mounted bench seat. Can also be used in situations of claiming other resources such as bedrooms. 

  • Relating to the use of numerous, diverse or indiscriminate means to achieve a particular result. 

  • Relating to shotguns, either in a present or past sense. 

  • A one-story dwelling with no hallways or corridors, with the rooms arranged in a straight line. 

  • An offensive formation in which the quarterback receives the snap at a distance behind the center, often with a running back set to one or both sides of him. 

  • Relating to the threat of force or dubious means. 

  • A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge. 

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