blunt vs taper

blunt

verb
  • To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt. 

  • To repress or weaken; to impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility, of 

adj
  • Having a thick edge or point; not sharp. 

  • Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech. 

  • Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; opposed to acute. 

  • Hard to impress or penetrate. 

  • Slow or deficient in feeling: insensitive. 

noun
  • A marijuana cigar. 

  • A playboating move resembling a cartwheel performed on a wave. 

  • A short needle with a strong point. 

  • A fencer's practice foil with a soft tip. 

taper

verb
  • To make thinner or narrower at one end. 

  • To diminish gradually. 

  • To become thinner or narrower at one end. 

  • (of a central bank) To tighten monetary policy. 

adj
  • Tapered; narrowing to a point. 

noun
  • A small light. 

  • A cone-shaped item for stretching the hole for an ear gauge (piercing). 

  • Someone who works with tape or tapes. 

  • A thin stick used for lighting candles, either a wax-coated wick or a slow-burning wooden rod. 

  • One who operates a tape machine. 

  • A slender wax candle. 

  • A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness and/or cross section in an elongated object. 

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