groom vs preen

groom

verb
  • To attend to one's appearance and clothing. 

  • To attempt to gain the trust of (somebody, especially a minor) with the intention of subjecting them to abusive or exploitative behaviour such as sexual abuse or human trafficking. 

  • To care for (horses or other animals) by brushing and cleaning them. 

  • In agile software development, to review and prioritize the items in the development backlog. 

  • To prepare (someone) for an event 

  • To prepare (a ski slope) for skiers by packing down the snow. 

  • To prepare (someone) for election or appointment. 

noun
  • A person who looks after horses. 

  • A brushing or cleaning, as of a dog or horse. 

  • A man who is about to marry. 

  • One of several officers of the English royal household, chiefly in the lord chamberlain's department. 

preen

verb
  • To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify. 

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

  • To trim up, as trees. 

  • To flatter. 

  • To comb; to make orderly. 

  • 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 groom and preen occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )