mend vs wreck

mend

verb
  • To repair (something that is torn, broken, defaced, decayed, or otherwise damaged) 

  • To grow better; to advance to a better state; to become improved. 

  • To put in a better state; to set right; to reform; 

  • To quicken 

  • To help, to advance, to further; to add to. 

noun
  • A place, as in clothing, which has been repaired by mending. 

  • The act of repairing or recovering. 

wreck

verb
  • To be involved in a wreck; to be damaged or destroyed. 

  • To destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless. 

  • To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on. 

  • To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts. 

  • To ruin or dilapidate. 

noun
  • A large number of birds that have been brought to the ground, injured or dead, by extremely adverse weather. 

  • Something or someone that has been ruined. 

  • The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down. 

  • A shipwreck: an event in which a ship is heavily damaged or destroyed. 

  • Goods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck. 

  • An event in which something is damaged through collision. 

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