brush vs preen

brush

verb
  • To apply with a brush. 

  • To clean with a brush. 

  • To touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing. 

  • To untangle or arrange with a brush. 

  • To clean one's teeth by brushing them. 

  • To remove with a sweeping motion. 

noun
  • An instrument, resembling a brush, used to produce a soft sound from drums or cymbals. 

  • An on-screen tool for "painting" a particular colour or texture. 

  • A set of defined design and parameters that produce drawn strokes of a certain texture and quality. 

  • A tuft of hair on the mandibles. 

  • Evergreen boughs, especially balsam, locally cut and baled for export, usually for use in making wreaths. 

  • In 3D video games, a convex polyhedron, especially one that defines structure of the play area. 

  • The floorperson of a poker room, usually in a casino. 

  • A short and sometimes occasional encounter or experience. 

  • A piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine. 

  • An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair. 

  • The act of brushing something. 

  • Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland. 

  • The furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox. 

  • A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks. 

preen

verb
  • To comb; to make orderly. 

  • To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror. 

  • To trim up, as trees. 

  • To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify. 

  • To flatter. 

  • To groom; to trim or dress with the beak, as the feathers. 

  • To show off, posture, or smarm. 

  • To pin; fasten. 

noun
  • bodkin; brooch 

  • A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth. 

  • pin 

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