tear at vs torture

tear at

verb
  • To afflict or aggrieve. 

  • To pull at violently. 

torture

verb
  • To intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone). 

noun
  • The intentional causing of somebody's experiencing agony. 

  • The "suffering of the heart" imposed by one on another, as in personal relationships. 

  • (often as "absolute torture") Stage fright; severe embarrassment. 

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