hulk vs scruff

hulk

noun
  • A big (and possibly clumsy) person. 

  • A large structure with a dominating presence. 

  • An excessively muscled person. 

  • A non-functional but floating ship, usually stripped of equipment and rigging, and often put to other uses such as accommodation or storage. 

verb
  • To temporarily house (goods, people, etc.) in such a hulk. 

  • To be a hulk, that is, a large, hulking, and often imposing presence. 

  • Of a (large) person: to act or move slowly and clumsily. 

  • To remove the entrails of; to disembowel. 

  • To reduce (a ship) to a non-functional hulk. 

  • To move (a large, hulking body). 

scruff

noun
  • Someone with an untidy appearance. 

  • The back of the neck, nape; also scruff of the neck. 

  • The loose skin at the back of the neck of some animals. 

  • Stubble, facial hair (on males). 

verb
  • To lift or carry by the scruff. 

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