hammer vs plunger

hammer

noun
  • A moving part of a firearm that strikes the firing pin to discharge a gun. 

  • The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear. 

  • The accelerator pedal. 

  • A device made of a heavy steel ball attached to a length of wire, and used for throwing. 

  • The act of using a hammer to hit something. 

  • The last stone in an end. 

  • A frisbee throwing style in which the disc is held upside-down with a forehand grip and thrown above the head. 

  • Part of a clock that strikes upon a bell to indicate the hour. 

  • One who, or that which, smites or shatters. 

  • A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding. 

  • In a piano or dulcimer, a piece of wood covered in felt that strikes the string. 

verb
  • To declare (a person) a defaulter on the stock exchange. 

  • To ride very fast. 

  • To make high demands on (a system or service). 

  • To emphasize a point repeatedly. 

  • To beat down the price of (a stock), or depress (a market). 

  • To have hard sex with. 

  • To strike repeatedly with a hammer, some other implement, the fist, etc. 

  • To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating. 

  • To defeat (a person, a team) resoundingly 

  • To hit particularly hard. 

  • To strike internally, as if hit by a hammer. 

plunger

noun
  • The firing pin of a breechloader. 

  • The moving portion of a solenoid. 

  • One who plunges; a diver. 

  • A device similar to a piston but without a mechanism; a long solid cylinder used, instead of a piston or bucket, as a forcer in pumps. 

  • The spring-loaded assembly that propels the ball onto the table. 

  • A boiler in which clay is beaten by a wheel to a creamy consistency. 

  • A horse that plunges, or throws itself suddenly forward. 

  • The sliding activator of an exploder, an electrical generator used to trigger electrical detonators such as blasting caps. 

  • A cavalryman. 

  • The part of a cafetière that is pushed down to remove grounds from coffee. 

  • The internal piece of a syringe that pushes out or pulls in any contents. 

  • A device that is used to remove blockages from the drain of a basin or tub, by suction. 

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