hobo vs transient

hobo

noun
  • A wandering homeless person, especially (historical) one illegally travelling by rail or (derogatory) a penniless, unemployed bum. 

  • Any migratory laborer, whether homeless or not. 

  • A kind of large handbag. 

verb
  • To be a hobo, tramp, bum etc. 

transient

noun
  • A homeless person. 

  • A relatively loud, non-repeating signal in an audio waveform that occurs very quickly, such as the attack of a snare drum. 

  • homestay 

  • A transient phenomenon, especially an electric current; a very brief surge. 

  • A module that generally remains in memory only for a short time. 

  • Something that is transient. 

  • A person who passes through a place for a short time; a traveller; a migrant worker. 

adj
  • Intermediate. 

  • Occasional; isolated; one-off 

  • having a positive probability of being left and never being visited again. 

  • Passing or disappearing with time; transitory. 

  • Decaying with time, especially exponentially. 

  • Operating beyond itself; having an external effect. 

  • Passing through; passing from one person to another. 

  • Remaining for only a brief time. 

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