cutting vs mordant

cutting

adj
  • Piercing, sharp. 

  • Of criticism, remarks, etc.: (potentially) hurtful. 

  • Of a beverage: half-sized. 

  • That is used for cutting. 

noun
  • A section removed from a larger whole. 

  • The editing of film or other recordings. 

  • An abridged selection of written work, often intended for performance. 

  • A leaf, stem, branch, or root removed from a plant and cultivated to grow a new plant. 

  • The action of the verb to cut. 

  • The act of cutting one's own skin as a symptom of a mental disorder; self-harm. 

  • A newspaper clipping. 

  • An open passage at a level lower than the surrounding terrain, dug for a canal, railway, or road to go through. 

  • The process of bringing metals to a desired shape by chipping away the unwanted material. 

mordant

adj
  • Having or showing a sharp or critical quality 

  • Serving to fix a dye to a fibre. 

verb
  • To subject to the action of, or imbue with, a mordant. 

noun
  • A glutinous size used as a ground for gilding, to make the gold leaf adhere. 

  • Any substance used to facilitate the fixing of a dye to a fibre; usually a metallic compound which reacts with the dye using chelation. 

  • Any corrosive substance used in etching. 

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