maul vs strike

maul

verb
  • To handle someone or something in a rough way. 

  • To beat with a maul. 

  • To criticise harshly. 

  • To savage; to cause serious physical wounds (usually used of an animal). 

noun
  • A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into them, or in combat. 

  • A situation where the player carrying the ball, who must be on his feet, is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier's team mates bind onto the ball carrier. 

strike

verb
  • To act suddenly, especially in a violent or criminal way. 

  • To hit. 

  • To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a force to; to dash; to cast. 

  • To create an impression. 

  • To cut off (a mortar joint, etc.) even with the face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle. 

  • To affect by a sudden impression or impulse. 

  • To sound by percussion, with blows, or as if with blows. 

  • To haul down or lower (a flag, mast, etc.) 

  • To make a sudden impression upon, as if by a blow; to affect with some strong emotion. 

  • To balance (a ledger or account). 

  • To dismantle and take away (a theater set; a tent; etc.). 

  • To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly. 

  • To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a stroke. 

  • To become attached to something; said of the spat of oysters. 

  • To stroke or pass lightly; to wave. 

  • To impress, seem or appear (to). 

  • To capitulate; to signal a surrender by hauling down the colours. 

  • To level (a measure of grain, salt, etc.) with a straight instrument, scraping off what is above the level of the top. 

  • To impinge upon. 

  • To discover a source of something, often a buried raw material such as ore (especially gold) or crude oil. 

  • To pass with a quick or strong effect; to dart; to penetrate. 

  • To touch; to act by appulse. 

  • To manufacture, as by stamping. 

  • To make and ratify. 

  • To deliver a quick blow or thrust; to give blows. 

  • To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or notify by audible strokes. Of a clock, to announce (an hour of the day), usually by one or more sounds. 

  • To cause to ignite by friction. 

  • To delete or cross out; to scratch or eliminate. 

  • To set off on a walk or trip. 

  • To score a goal. 

  • To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate. 

  • To punish; to afflict; to smite. 

  • To carry out a violent or illegal action. 

  • To unfasten, to loosen (chains, bonds, etc.). 

  • To stop working as a protest to achieve better working conditions. 

noun
  • A nibble on the bait by a fish. 

  • In an option contract, the price at which the holder buys or sells if they choose to exercise the option. 

  • The strike plate of a door. 

  • A cancellation postmark. 

  • An iron pale or standard in a gate or fence. 

  • The primary face of a hammer, opposite the peen. 

  • An instrument with a straight edge for levelling a measure of grain, salt, etc., scraping off what is above the level of the top; a strickle. 

  • A status resulting from a batter swinging and missing a pitch, or not swinging at a pitch when the ball goes in the strike zone, or hitting a foul ball that is not caught. 

  • The status of being the batsman that the bowler is bowling at. 

  • The act of knocking down all ten pins in on the first roll of a frame. 

  • An old English measure of corn equal to the bushel. 

  • A blow or application of physical force against something. 

  • A work stoppage (or otherwise concerted stoppage of an activity) as a form of protest. 

  • The compass direction of the line of intersection between a rock layer and the surface of the Earth. 

  • The discovery of a source of something. 

  • A puddler's stirrer. 

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