handful vs only a few

handful

noun
  • A five-year prison sentence. 

  • Something which can only be managed with difficulty. 

  • A group or number of things; a bunch. 

  • A small number, usually approximately five. 

  • The amount that a hand will grasp or contain. 

only a few

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