pace vs shoehorn

pace

noun
  • A step taken with the foot. 

  • Any of various gaits of a horse, specifically a 2-beat, lateral gait. 

  • The distance covered in a step (or sometimes two), either vaguely or according to various specific set measurements. 

  • A group of donkeys. 

  • Easter. 

  • A manner of walking, running or dancing; the rate or style of how someone moves with their feet. 

  • Speed or velocity in general. 

  • A measure of the hardness of a pitch and of the tendency of a cricket ball to maintain its speed after bouncing. 

adj
  • Describing a bowler who bowls fast balls. 

verb
  • To set the speed in a race. 

  • To measure by walking. 

  • To walk back and forth in a small distance. 

prep
  • With all due respect to. 

shoehorn

noun
  • A smooth tool that assists in putting the foot into a shoe, by sliding the heel in after the toe is in place. This reduces discomfort and damage to the back of the shoe. By slipping it into the back of the shoe behind the heel, the user prevents the heel from squashing down the back of the shoe and causing difficulty; instead the heel slides down the smooth shoehorn, which then comes out easily once the foot is in place. 

  • Anything by which a transaction is facilitated; a medium. 

verb
  • To use a shoehorn. 

  • To force (something) into (a tight space); to squeeze (something) into (a schedule, etc); to exert great effort to insert or include (something); to include (something) despite potent reasons not to. 

  • To force some current event into alignment with some (usually unconnected) agenda, especially when it is fallacious. 

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