pulpit vs scaffold

pulpit

noun
  • A raised desk, lectern, or platform for an orator or public speaker. 

  • The railing at the bow of a boat, which sometimes extends past the deck. It is sometimes referred to as bow pulpit. The railing at the stern of the boat is sometimes referred to as a stern pulpit; other texts use the term pushpit. 

  • A raised platform in a church, usually enclosed, where the minister or preacher stands when giving the sermon. 

  • A bow platform for harpooning. 

  • Activity performed from a church pulpit, in other words, preaching, sermons, religious teaching, the preaching profession, preachers collectively or an individual preaching position; by extension: bully pulpit. 

scaffold

noun
  • A structure that provides support for some other material. 

  • A structure made of scaffolding for workers to stand on while working on a building. 

  • An elevated platform on which a criminal is executed. 

  • An accumulation of adherent, partly fused material forming a shelf or dome-shaped obstruction above the tuyeres in a blast furnace. 

  • An elevated platform on which dead bodies are ritually disposed of, as by some Native American tribes. 

verb
  • To sustain; to provide support for. 

  • To set up a scaffolding; to surround a building with scaffolding. 

  • To dispose of the bodies of the dead on a scaffold or raised platform, as by some Native American tribes. 

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