grip vs nip

grip

verb
  • To take hold of, particularly with the hand. 

  • Of an emotion or situation: to have a strong effect upon. 

  • To firmly hold the attention of. 

  • To trench; to drain. 

noun
  • A person responsible for handling equipment on the set. 

  • An apparatus attached to a car for clutching a traction cable. 

  • A lot of something. 

  • A small travelling-bag or gripsack. 

  • A helpful, interesting, admirable, or inspiring person. 

  • Control, power or mastery over someone or something; a tenacious grasp; a holding fast. 

  • A channel cut through a grass verge (especially for the purpose of draining water away from the highway). 

  • A hold or way of holding, particularly with the hand. 

  • A long time. 

  • As much as one can hold in a hand; a handful. 

  • A small ditch or trench; a channel to carry off water or other liquid; a drain. 

  • A handle or other place to grip. 

  • A device for grasping or holding fast to something. 

  • Assistance; help or encouragement. 

  • A visual component on a window etc. enabling it to be resized and/or moved. 

nip

verb
  • To squeeze or pinch. 

  • To annoy, as by nipping. 

  • To make a quick, short journey or errand, usually a round trip. 

  • To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy. 

  • To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon. 

  • To taunt. 

  • To benumb [e.g., cheeks, fingers, nose] by severe cold. 

  • To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip. 

noun
  • A hamburger. 

  • A more or less gradual thinning out of a stratum. 

  • Briskly cold weather. 

  • A playful bite. 

  • A small cut, or a cutting off the end. 

  • A small quantity of something edible or a potable liquor. 

  • A nipple, usually of a woman. 

  • A pinch with the nails or teeth. 

  • A seizing or closing in upon; a pinching 

  • A blast; a killing of the ends of plants by frost. 

  • A short turn in a rope. 

  • The place of intersection where one roll touches another 

  • A biting sarcasm; a taunt. 

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