rebuff vs rough-and-tumble

rebuff

noun
  • Repercussion, or beating back. 

  • He was surprised by her quick rebuff to his proposal. 

  • A sudden resistance or refusal. 

verb
  • To refuse; to offer sudden or harsh resistance; to turn down or shut out. 

  • To buff again. 

rough-and-tumble

noun
  • Rough activity; fighting or brawling; a fight. 

  • An environment of rough activity 

  • A person who characteristically engages in such activity 

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

  • highly competitive 

verb
  • Engage in rough-and-tumble activity 

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