mediate vs twist the knife

mediate

verb
  • To act as an intermediary causal or communicative agent; to convey. 

  • To divide into two equal parts. 

  • To intervene between conflicting parties in order to resolve differences or bring about a settlement. 

  • To resolve differences, or to bring about a settlement, between conflicting parties. 

  • To act as a spiritualistic medium. 

adj
  • Gained or effected by a medium or condition. 

  • Acting through a mediating agency, indirect. 

  • Intermediate between extremes. 

twist the knife

verb
  • To deliberately do or say something to worsen a difficult situation or increase a person's distress, irritation, or anger. 

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