ease vs tug

ease

verb
  • To move (something) slowly and carefully. 

  • To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc. 

  • To reduce the difficulty of (something). 

  • To proceed with little effort. 

  • To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain). 

  • To loosen or slacken the tension on a line. 

  • To lessen in intensity. 

  • To give respite to (someone). 

noun
  • Additional space provided to allow greater movement. 

  • Release from constraint, obligation, or a constrained position. 

  • Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance. 

  • Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth. 

  • Ability, the means to do something 

  • Freedom from difficulty. 

  • Skill, dexterity, facility. 

  • Freedom from worry and concern; peace; sometimes (derogatory, archaic) indifference. 

  • Freedom from effort, leisure, rest. 

  • Freedom from financial effort or worry; affluence. 

  • Freedom from embarrassment or awkwardness; grace. 

tug

verb
  • To pull or drag with great effort. 

  • To masturbate. 

  • To tow by tugboat. 

  • To pull hard repeatedly. 

noun
  • A dog toy consisting of a rope, often with a knot in it. 

  • A trace, or drawing strap, of a harness. 

  • A tugboat. 

  • An iron hook of a hoisting tub, to which a tackle is affixed. 

  • A sudden powerful pull. 

  • An act of male masturbation. 

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