quoin vs taper

quoin

verb
  • To wedge or steady with quoins. 

noun
  • Any of the corner building blocks of a building, usually larger or more ornate than the surrounding blocks. 

  • The keystone of an arch. 

  • A number of apple varieties with a distinctive ribbed appearance, like corners of a coin. 

  • A metal wedge which fits into the space between the type and the edge of a chase, and is tightened to fix the metal type in place. 

  • A wedge of wood or iron put under the breech of heavy guns or the muzzle of siege-mortars to raise them to the proper level. 

taper

verb
  • To make thinner or narrower at one end. 

  • To diminish gradually. 

  • To become thinner or narrower at one end. 

  • (of a central bank) To tighten monetary policy. 

adj
  • Tapered; narrowing to a point. 

noun
  • A small light. 

  • A cone-shaped item for stretching the hole for an ear gauge (piercing). 

  • Someone who works with tape or tapes. 

  • A thin stick used for lighting candles, either a wax-coated wick or a slow-burning wooden rod. 

  • One who operates a tape machine. 

  • A slender wax candle. 

  • A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness and/or cross section in an elongated object. 

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