shank vs spear

shank

verb
  • To stab, especially with an improvised blade. 

  • To hit or kick the ball in an unintended direction. 

  • To misstrike the ball with the part of the club head that connects to the shaft. 

  • To fall off, as a leaf, flower, or capsule, on account of disease affecting the supporting footstalk; usually followed by off. 

  • To remove another's trousers, especially in jest; to depants. 

  • To provide (a button) with a shank (loop forming an eye). 

  • To apply the shank to a shoe, during the process of manufacturing it. 

noun
  • The center part of a fishhook between the eye and the hook, the 'hook' being the curved part that bends toward the point. 

  • A poorly played golf shot in which the ball is struck by the part of the club head that connects to the shaft. 

  • A redshank or greenshank, various species of Old World wading birds in the genus Tringa having distinctly colored legs. 

  • A large ladle for molten metal, fitted with long bars for handling it. 

  • The main part or beginning of a period of time. 

  • Meat from that part of an animal. 

  • The handle of a pair of shears, connecting the ride to the neck. 

  • An improvised stabbing weapon. 

  • The space between two channels of the Doric triglyph. 

  • The part of the sole beneath the instep connecting the broader front part with the heel. 

  • The end or remainder, particularly of a period of time. 

  • A loop forming an eye to a button. 

  • The metal part on a curb bit that falls below the mouthpiece, which length controls the severity of the leverage action of the bit, and to which the reins of the bridle are attached. 

  • A protruding part of an object, by which it is or can be attached. 

  • A straight, narrow part of an object, such as a key or an anchor; shaft; stem. 

  • The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle. 

  • Flat-nosed pliers, used by opticians for nipping off the edges of pieces of glass to make them round. 

adj
  • Bad. 

spear

verb
  • To pierce with a spear. 

  • To penetrate or strike with, or as if with, any long narrow object; to make a thrusting motion that catches an object on the tip of a long device. 

  • To tackle an opponent by ramming into them with one's helmet. 

  • To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do. 

adj
  • Pertaining to male family members. 

  • Male. 

noun
  • An illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player. 

  • The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod. 

  • A long, thin strip from a vegetable. 

  • The sprout of a plant, stalk 

  • In professional wrestling, a running tackle in which the wrestler's shoulder is driven into the opponent's midsection. 

  • A shoot, as of grass; a spire. 

  • A lance with barbed prongs, used by fishermen to retrieve fish. 

  • A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion. 

  • A soldier armed with such a weapon; a spearman. 

  • The feather of a horse. 

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