mend vs stab

mend

noun
  • The act of repairing or recovering. 

  • A place, as in clothing, which has been repaired by mending. 

verb
  • To grow better; to advance to a better state; to become improved. 

  • To repair (something that is torn, broken, defaced, decayed, or otherwise damaged) 

  • To put in a better state; to set right; to reform; 

  • To quicken 

  • To help, to advance, to further; to add to. 

stab

noun
  • An act of stabbing or thrusting with an object. 

  • The horizontal or vertical stabilizer of an aircraft. 

  • A wound made by stabbing. 

  • Pain inflicted on a person's feelings. 

  • Criticism. 

  • An attempt. 

  • A single staccato chord that adds dramatic impact to a composition. 

  • A bacterial culture made by inoculating a solid medium, such as gelatin, with the puncture of a needle or wire. 

verb
  • To injure secretly or by malicious falsehood or slander. 

  • To pierce or to wound (somebody) with a (usually pointed) tool or weapon, especially a knife or dagger. 

  • To thrust in a stabbing motion. 

  • To roughen a brick wall with a pick so as to hold plaster. 

  • To cause a sharp, painful sensation (often used with at). 

  • To pierce folded sheets, near their back edges, for the passage of thread or wire. 

  • To recklessly hit with the tip of a (usually pointed) object, such as a weapon or finger (often used with at). 

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