pincushion vs quill

pincushion

verb
  • To jab or stick repeatedly with one or more sharp objects, as with pins into a pincushion. 

  • To assume the shape of a pincushion; specifically, of the image on a computer display, television, etc., to exhibit pincushion distortion, where the sides curve inwards. 

noun
  • The pincushionplant, a flowering plant in the genus Navarretia. 

  • A device, originally like a small, stuffed cushion, designed to have sewing pins and needles stuck into it to store them safely; some modern pincushions hold the objects magnetically. 

  • A flowering plant in the genus Leucospermum. 

  • The dustymaiden, a flowering plant in the genus Chaenactis. 

  • A person who is pricked or stabbed multiple times with sharp objects; specifically, someone who receives regular hypodermic needle injections. 

  • The coral bead plant, coral moss, or English baby tears (Nertera granadensis), an ornamental plant. 

  • A flowering plant in the genus Scabiosa. 

  • The pincushion cactus, of the genera Escobaria or Mammillaria. 

quill

verb
  • To pierce or be pierced with quills. 

  • To subject (a woman who is giving birth) to the practice of quilling (blowing pepper into her nose to induce or hasten labor). 

  • To decorate with quillwork. 

  • To form fabric into small, rounded folds. 

  • To write. 

noun
  • Something having the form of a quill, such as the fold or plain of a ruff, or (weaving) a spindle, or spool, upon which the thread for the woof is wound in a shuttle. 

  • The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs. 

  • The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments. 

  • A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube. 

  • The tube of a musical instrument. 

  • A pen made from a feather. 

  • A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators. 

  • The pen of a squid. 

  • Any pen. 

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