mercy vs torture

mercy

noun
  • A tendency toward forgiveness, pity, or compassion. 

  • Instances of forbearance or forgiveness. 

  • A blessing; something to be thankful for. 

  • Forgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate. 

  • Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another. 

  • A children's game in which two players stand opposite with hands grasped and twist each other's arms until one gives in. 

verb
  • To feel mercy 

  • To show mercy; to pardon or treat leniently because of mercy 

intj
  • Expressing surprise or alarm. 

torture

noun
  • The intentional causing of somebody's experiencing agony. 

  • The "suffering of the heart" imposed by one on another, as in personal relationships. 

  • (often as "absolute torture") Stage fright; severe embarrassment. 

verb
  • To intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone). 

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