cut up vs rough-and-tumble

cut up

adj
  • Muscular and lean. 

  • Emotionally upset; mentally distressed. 

  • Wounded with multiple lacerations. 

  • Having been cut into smaller pieces. 

verb
  • To lacerate; to wound by multiple lacerations; to injure or damage by cutting, or as if by cutting. 

  • To move aggressively in front of another vehicle while driving. 

  • To behave like a clown or jokester (a cut-up); to misbehave; to act in a playful, comical, boisterous, or unruly manner to elicit laughter, attention, etc. 

  • Comprise a particular selection of runners. 

  • To cut into smaller pieces, parts, or sections. 

  • To distress mentally or emotionally. 

  • To disintegrate; to break into pieces. 

rough-and-tumble

adj
  • active, vigorous and rough, with the possibility of harm 

  • highly competitive 

noun
  • An environment of rough activity 

  • Rough activity; fighting or brawling; a fight. 

  • A person who characteristically engages in such activity 

verb
  • Engage in rough-and-tumble activity 

How often have the words cut up and rough-and-tumble occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )