punch vs wire

punch

verb
  • To hit (a ball or similar object) with less than full force. 

  • To employ a punch to create a hole in or stamp or emboss a mark on something. 

  • To strike with one's fist. 

  • To thrust against; to poke. 

  • To enter (information) on a device or system. 

  • To herd. 

  • To mark a ticket. 

  • To make holes in something (rail ticket, leather belt, etc) 

  • To operate (a device or system) by depressing a button, key, bar, or pedal, or by similar means. 

  • In winemaking, to perform pigeage: to stamp down grape skins that float to the surface during fermentation. 

noun
  • A mechanism for punching holes in paper or other thin material. 

  • A hole or opening created with a punch. 

  • Impact. 

  • Any of various riodinid butterflies of the genus Dodona of Asia. 

  • An extension piece applied to the top of a pile; a dolly. 

  • A prop, as for the roof of a mine. 

  • Power, strength, energy. 

  • A device, generally slender and round, used for creating holes in thin material, for driving an object through a hole in a containing object, or to stamp or emboss a mark or design on a surface. 

  • A hit or strike with one's fist. 

  • A blow from something other than the fist. 

  • A beverage, generally containing a mixture of fruit juice and some other beverage, often alcoholic. 

wire

verb
  • To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot. 

  • To send a message or monetary funds to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominantly by telegraph. 

  • To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing. 

  • To set or predetermine (someone's personality or behaviour, or an organization's culture) in a particular way. 

  • To string on a wire. 

  • To add (something) into a system (especially an electrical system) by means of wiring. 

  • To snare by means of a wire or wires. 

  • To install eavesdropping equipment. 

  • To make someone tense or psyched up. See also adjective wired. 

  • To connect, involve or embed (something) deeply or intimately into (something else, such as an organization or political scene), so that it is plugged in (to that thing) (“keeping up with current information about (the thing)”) or has insinuated itself into (the thing). 

  • To add or connect (something) into a system as if with wires (for example, with nerves). 

  • To equip with wires for use with electricity. 

noun
  • Any of the system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence, the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; strings. 

  • A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable. 

  • A knitting needle. 

  • Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die. 

  • A telecommunication wire or cable. 

  • An electric telegraph; a telegram. 

  • A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence. 

  • A fence made of usually barbed wire. 

  • A deadline or critical endpoint. 

  • A metal conductor that carries electricity. 

  • A finish line of a racetrack. 

  • A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score. 

  • The slender shaft of the plumage of certain birds. 

  • A covert signal sent between people cheating in a card game. 

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