spindle vs staff

spindle

noun
  • The fusee of a watch. 

  • A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord. 

  • Any marine gastropod with a spindle-shaped shell formerly in one of the three invalid genera called Fusus. 

  • A rotary axis of a machine tool or power tool. 

  • A long and slender stalk resembling a spindle. 

  • Any marine univalve shell of the genus Tibia; a spindle stromb. 

  • Certain of the species of the genus Euonymus, originally used for making the spindles used for spinning wool. 

  • A rod used for spinning and then winding natural fibres (especially wool), usually consisting of a shaft and a circular whorl positioned at either the upper or lower end of the shaft when suspended vertically from the forming thread. 

  • A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards; in linen yarn, 14,400 yards. 

  • A sleep spindle. 

  • A rod which turns, or on which something turns. 

  • An upright spike for holding paper documents by skewering. 

  • A cytoskeletal structure formed during mitosis 

  • a dragonfly, calque of Swedish slända (dragonfly/spindle), introduced by New Sweden settlers. 

  • A muscle spindle. 

  • A plastic container for packaging optical discs. Bulk blank CDs, DVDs, and BDs are often sold in such a package. 

verb
  • To make into a long tapered shape. 

  • To impale on a device for holding paper documents. 

  • To take on a long tapered shape. 

staff

noun
  • An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch. 

  • The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder. 

  • A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave. 

  • A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office. 

  • A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking. 

  • The employees of a business. 

  • A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed. 

  • An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution. 

  • A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.ᵂ 

  • A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave. 

verb
  • To supply (a business, volunteer organization, etc.) with employees or staff members. 

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