abutment vs stiffener

abutment

noun
  • The tooth that supports a denture or bridge. 

  • A construction that supports the ends of a bridge; a structure that anchors the cables on a suspension bridge. 

  • The part of a valley or canyon wall against which a dam is constructed. 

  • A fixed point or surface where resistance is obtained. 

  • The point of junction between two things, in particular a support, that abuts. 

  • That element that shares a common boundary or surface with its neighbor. 

  • The solid portion of a structure that supports the lateral pressure of an arch or vault. 

  • Something that abuts, or on which something abuts. 

  • The state of abutting. 

stiffener

noun
  • Anything added to something in order to stiffen it, such as a support beam, or starch for a collar. 

  • An alcoholic drink taken to fortify oneself. 

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