laurels vs trophy

laurels

noun
  • Honors. From the Ancient Greek practice of crowning victors with a branch from the laurel bush, sacred to Apollo. 

trophy

noun
  • An object taken as a prize by a hunter or conqueror, especially one that is displayed. 

  • An artifact or artwork that has been stolen by a criminal and traded on the black market. 

  • An object, usually in the form of a statuette, cup, or shield, awarded for success in a competition or to mark a special achievement. 

  • Any emblem of success; a status symbol. 

  • A display of weaponry and other militaria, often captured from a defeated enemy, as an ornament designed for the purpose of triumphalist display by a victor or as a show of military prowess by a monarch. 

  • An object taken by a serial killer or rapist as a memento of the crime. 

  • An animal killed by a trophy hunter that usually has its parts sold on the black market. 

  • A tropæum. 

verb
  • To win a trophy in a competition. 

  • To adorn with trophies. 

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