crab vs sailcloth

crab

noun
  • A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc. 

  • The meat of this crustacean, served as food; crabmeat. 

  • A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc. 

  • A playing card with the rank of three. 

  • The crab apple or wild apple. 

  • The tree bearing crab apples, which has a dogbane-like bitter bark with medical use. 

  • A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn. 

  • A claw for anchoring a portable machine. 

  • The tree species Carapa guianensis, native to South America. 

  • A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace. 

  • An infestation of pubic lice (Pthirus pubis). 

  • A position in rowing where the oar is pushed under the rigger by the force of the water. 

  • A defect in an outwardly normal object that may render it inconvenient and troublesome to use. 

  • A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick. 

  • The angle by which an aircraft's nose is pointed upwind of its groundtrack to compensate for crosswinds during an approach to landing; its crab angle. 

  • The state of an aircraft's nose being pointed upwind of its groundtrack to compensate for crosswinds during an approach to landing. 

  • A bad-tempered person. 

verb
  • To navigate (an aircraft, e.g. a glider) sideways against an air current in order to maintain a straight-line course. 

  • To move in a manner that involves keeping low and clinging to surfaces. 

  • To ruin. 

  • To fish for crabs. 

  • To move (a camera) sideways. 

  • To back out of something. 

  • To be ill-tempered; to complain or find fault. 

  • To complain about. 

  • To cudgel or beat, as with a crabstick 

  • To drift or move sideways or to leeward (by analogy with the movement of a crab). 

  • To complain. 

sailcloth

noun
  • A strong, durable fabric suitable for making sails for ships or boats. 

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