flail vs tongs

flail

noun
  • A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material. 

  • A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain. 

verb
  • To beat using a flail or similar implement. 

  • To wave or swing vigorously 

  • To thresh. 

  • To move like a flail. 

tongs

noun
  • An instrument or tool used for picking things up without touching them with the hands or fingers, consisting of two slats or grips hinged at the end or in the middle, and sometimes including a spring to open the grips. 

  • A large scissors-like two-piece center-hinged forged-iron implement with oval-loop handles and with pointed tips turned inward (in the same plane as and perpendicular to the handles) to facilitate lifting and carrying a block of ice. Often called ice tongs. 

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