ruffle vs tatter

ruffle

noun
  • Any gathered or curled strip of fabric added as trim or decoration. 

  • Disturbance; agitation; commotion. 

  • The connected series of large egg capsules, or oothecae, of several species of American marine gastropods of the genus Fulgur. 

  • A low, vibrating beat of a drum, quieter than a roll; a ruff. 

verb
  • To become disordered; to play loosely; to flutter. 

  • To erect in a ruff, as feathers. 

  • To throw together in a disorderly manner. 

  • To beat with the ruff or ruffle, as a drum. 

  • To disturb; especially, to cause to flutter. 

  • To be rough; to jar; to be in contention; hence, to put on airs; to swagger. 

  • To grow rough, boisterous, or turbulent. 

  • To make into a ruff; to draw or contract into puckers, plaits, or folds; to wrinkle. 

  • To make a ruffle in; to curl or flute, as an edge of fabric. 

tatter

noun
  • A shred of torn cloth; an individual item of torn and ragged clothing. 

  • A person engaged in tatting. 

verb
  • To fall into tatters. 

  • To destroy an article of clothing etc. by shredding. 

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