refrain vs tell

refrain

noun
  • A much repeated comment, complaint, or saying. 

  • The chorus or burden of a song repeated at the end of each verse or stanza. 

verb
  • To stop oneself from some action or interference; to abstain. 

  • To abstain from (food or drink). 

tell

noun
  • A reflexive, often habitual behavior, especially one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold. 

  • A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper. 

  • A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements. 

verb
  • To order; to direct, to say to someone. 

  • To instruct or inform. 

  • To narrate. 

  • To reveal. 

  • To convey by speech; to say. 

  • To reveal information in prose through outright expository statement -- contrasted with show 

  • To count, reckon, or enumerate. 

  • To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated. 

  • To inform someone in authority about a wrongdoing. 

  • To discern, notice, identify or distinguish. 

  • To be revealed. 

  • To use (beads or similar objects) as an aid to prayer. 

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