pedal vs shoehorn

pedal

noun
  • A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano 

  • The ranks of pipes played from the pedal-board of an organ. 

  • an orthopedic structure or a footlike part. 

  • An effects unit, especially one designed to be activated by being stepped on. 

  • A stirrup. 

adj
  • Of or relating to the foot. 

verb
  • To operate a pedal attached to a wheel in a continuous circular motion. 

  • To operate a bicycle. 

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 pedal and shoehorn occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )