modicum vs sliver

modicum

noun
  • A modest, small, or trifling amount. 

sliver

noun
  • A small amount of something; a drop in the bucket; a shred. 

  • A narrow high-rise apartment building. 

  • A strand, or slender roll, of cotton or other fiber in a loose, untwisted state, produced by a carding machine and ready for the roving or slubbing which precedes spinning. 

  • Specifically, a splinter caught under the skin. 

  • A long piece cut or rent off; a sharp, slender fragment; a splinter. 

  • Bait made of pieces of small fish. Compare kibblings. 

verb
  • To cut or divide into long, thin pieces, or into very small pieces; to cut or rend lengthwise; to slit. 

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