grub vs tinker

grub

noun
  • An insect at an immature stage of its life cycle. 

  • Food. 

  • A dirty person. 

  • A despicable person; a lowlife. 

verb
  • To scavenge or in some way scrounge, typically for food. 

  • To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; often followed by up. 

tinker

noun
  • A bird, the razor-billed auk. 

  • A mischievous person, especially a playful, impish youngster. 

  • An itinerant tinsmith and mender of household utensils made of metal. 

  • The act of repair or invention. 

  • Someone who repairs, or attempts repair, on anything mechanical, or who invents such devices; one who tinkers; a tinkerer. 

  • Any of various fish: chub mackerel, silverside, skate, or young mackerel about two years old. 

verb
  • To work as a tinker. 

  • To fiddle with something in an attempt to fix, mend or improve it, especially in an experimental or unskilled manner. 

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