clump vs shearing

clump

noun
  • The compressed clay of coal strata. 

  • A thick group or bunch, especially of bushes or hair. 

  • A small group of trees or plants. 

  • A cluster or lump; an unshaped piece or mass. 

  • A dull thud. 

  • A thick addition to the sole of a shoe. 

verb
  • To gather in dense groups. 

  • To form clusters or lumps. 

  • To walk with heavy footfalls. 

  • To strike; to beat. 

shearing

noun
  • The process of making a vertical side cutting in working into a face of coal. 

  • Deformation by forces acting in opposite directions. 

  • The act or operation of reaping. 

  • The act or operation of clipping with shears or a shearing machine, as the wool from sheep, or the nap from cloth. 

  • The material cut off in this way. 

  • The process of preparing shear steel; tilting. 

  • The act or operation of dividing with shears. 

adj
  • Tending to cut or tear. 

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