instant vs stage

instant

noun
  • A single, usually precise, point in time. 

  • A beverage or food which has been pre-processed to reduce preparation time, especially instant coffee. 

  • A very short period of time; a moment. 

adv
  • At once; immediately. 

adj
  • Present; current; extant. 

  • Very quickly and easily prepared. 

  • Of the current month. 

  • Occurring immediately; immediate; present. 

  • Lasting for a short moment; momentary; short-lived. 

stage

noun
  • A level; one of the sequential areas making up the game. 

  • A platform; a surface, generally elevated, upon which show performances or other public events are given. 

  • One of the portions of a device (such as a rocket or thermonuclear weapon) which are used or activated in a particular order, one after another. 

  • A floor or storey of a house. 

  • The number of an electronic circuit’s block, such as a filter, an amplifier, etc. 

  • A stagecoach, an enclosed horsedrawn carriage used to carry passengers. 

  • A place where anything is publicly exhibited, or a remarkable affair occurs; the scene. 

  • The succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic time scale. 

  • A phase. 

  • The place on a microscope where the slide is located for viewing. 

  • An internship. 

  • A platform, often floating, serving as a kind of wharf. 

  • A floor elevated for the convenience of mechanical work, etc.; scaffolding; staging. 

verb
  • To produce on a stage, to perform a play. 

  • To demonstrate in a deceptive manner. 

  • To orchestrate; to carry out. 

  • To place in position to prepare for use. 

  • To determine what stage (a disease, etc.) has progressed to 

  • To jettison a spent stage of a multistage rocket or other launch vehicle and light the engine(s) of the stage above it. 

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