paper vs rag

paper

noun
  • A newspaper or anything used as such (such as a newsletter or listing magazine). 

  • A written document that reports scientific or academic research and is usually subjected to peer review before publication in a scientific journal (as a journal article or the manuscript for one) or in the proceedings of a scientific or academic meeting (such as a conference, workshop, or symposium). 

  • A sheet material used for writing on or printing on (or as a non-waterproof container), usually made by draining cellulose fibres from a suspension in water. 

  • A scholastic essay. 

  • A written document, generally shorter than a book (white paper, term paper), in particular one written for the Government. 

  • Any financial assets other than specie. 

  • A paper packet containing a quantity of items. 

  • Wallpaper. 

  • An open hand (a handshape resembling a sheet of paper), that beats rock and loses to scissors. It loses to lizard and beats Spock in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock. 

  • Wrapping paper. 

  • A set of examination questions to be answered at one session. 

  • Money. 

  • A university course. 

  • A medicinal preparation spread upon paper, intended for external application. 

  • A substance resembling paper secreted by certain invertebrates as protection for their nests and eggs. 

adj
  • Insubstantial (from the weakness of common paper) 

  • Made of paper. 

  • Planned (from plans being drawn up on paper) 

  • Having a title that is merely official, or given by courtesy or convention. 

verb
  • To apply paper to. 

  • To paste the endpapers and flyleaves at the beginning and end of a book before fitting it into its covers. 

  • To submit official papers to (a law court, etc.). 

  • To enfold in paper. 

  • To document; to memorialize. 

  • To fill (a theatre or other paid event) with complimentary seats. 

  • To give public notice (typically by displaying posters) that a person is wanted by the police or other authority. 

  • To sandpaper. 

rag

noun
  • A newspaper or magazine, especially one whose journalism is considered to be of poor quality. 

  • A poor, low-ranking kicker. 

  • A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising. 

  • A shabby, beggarly fellow; a ragamuffin. 

  • A coarse kind of rock, somewhat cellular in texture; ragstone. 

  • A ragtime song, dance or piece of music. 

  • A curtain of various kinds. 

  • A sail, or any piece of canvas. 

  • Sanitary napkins, pads, or other materials used to absorb menstrual discharge. 

  • A piece of old cloth, especially one used for cleaning, patching, etc.; a tattered piece of cloth; a shred or tatter. 

  • Tattered clothes. 

  • A ragged edge in metalworking. 

verb
  • To dance to ragtime music. 

  • To play or compose (a piece, melody, etc.) in syncopated time. 

  • To drive a car or another vehicle in a hard, fast or unsympathetic manner. 

  • To scold or tell off; to torment; to banter. 

  • To decorate (a wall, etc.) by applying paint with a rag. 

  • To become tattered. 

  • To tease or torment, especially at a university; to bully, to haze. 

  • To cut or dress roughly, as a grindstone. 

  • To break (ore) into lumps for sorting. 

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