also-ran vs scorpion

also-ran

noun
  • A loser; a person or thing soon to be forgotten. 

  • A person or animal who competed in a race but did not win. 

scorpion

noun
  • A very spiteful or vindictive person. 

  • An ancient military engine for hurling stones and other missiles. 

  • Any of various arachnids of the order Scorpiones, related to the spiders, characterised by two large front pincers and a curved tail with a venomous sting in the end. 

  • A cheerleading move in which one foot is pulled back and held up with both hands while the performer stands on the other foot. 

How often have the words also-ran and scorpion occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )