rough-and-tumble vs tamper

rough-and-tumble

noun
  • A person who characteristically engages in such activity 

  • An environment of rough activity 

  • Rough activity; fighting or brawling; a fight. 

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

  • highly competitive 

verb
  • Engage in rough-and-tumble activity 

tamper

noun
  • A person or thing that tamps. 

  • A tool used to tamp something down, such as tobacco in a pipe. 

  • An envelope of neutron-reflecting material in a nuclear weapon, used to delay the expansion of the reacting material and thus produce a longer-lasting and more energetic explosion. 

  • A railway vehicle used to tamp down ballast. 

verb
  • To make unauthorized or improper alterations, sometimes causing deliberate damage; to meddle (with something). 

  • To try to influence someone, usually in an illegal or devious way; to try to deal (with someone). 

  • To discuss future contracts with a player, against league rules. 

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