inch vs shred

inch

verb
  • to humiliate; to provoke; to speak in a cocky and cheeky manner 

  • To drive by inches, or small degrees. 

  • To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction). 

  • To deal out by inches; to give sparingly. 

noun
  • A depth of one inch on the ground, used as a measurement of rainfall. 

  • A small island; an islet. 

  • A meadow, pasture, field, or haugh. 

  • Any very short distance. 

  • A depth of one inch in a glass, used as a rough measurement of alcoholic beverages. 

  • An English unit of length equal to 1/12 of a foot or 2.54 cm, roughly the width of a thumb. 

  • Any of various similar units of length in other traditional systems of measurement. 

adj
  • cocky and cheeky 

shred

verb
  • To convincingly defeat (someone); to thrash, to trounce. 

  • To become separated into small portions. 

  • To reduce body weight due to fat and water before a competition. 

  • To cut through (snow, water, etc.) swiftly with one's snowboard, surfboard, etc.; (by extension) to move or ride along (a road, track, etc.) aggressively and rapidly. 

  • To reduce (something) by a large percentage; to slash. 

  • To cut or tear (something) into long, narrow pieces or strips. 

  • To separate (something) into small portions. 

  • Chiefly in rock and heavy metal: to play (a musical instrument (especially a guitar) or a piece of music) very fast. 

  • To cut (fruit peel, a vegetable, etc.) into thin strips that curl. 

  • To travel swiftly using a snowboard, surfboard, or vehicle. 

  • To destroy (a document) by cutting or tearing into strips or small pieces that cannot easily be read, especially using a shredder. 

noun
  • A thin strip of fruit peel, a vegetable, etc., cut so that it curls. 

  • A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing. 

  • A thin strand or wisp, as of a cloud, mist, etc. 

  • A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount. 

  • A shard or sherd (“a piece of broken glass or pottery”). 

adj
  • Synonym of shredded (“cut or torn into narrow strips or small pieces”) 

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