hide vs whitewash

hide

noun
  • A secret room for hiding oneself or valuables; a hideaway. 

  • The skin of an animal. 

  • (mainly British) A covered structure from which hunters, birdwatchers, etc can observe animals without scaring them. 

  • One's own life or personal safety, especially when in peril. 

  • A covered structure to which a pet animal can retreat, as is recommended for snakes. 

  • A unit of land and tax assessment of varying size, originally as intended to support one household with dependents. 

verb
  • To put (something) in a place where it will be harder to discover or out of sight. 

  • To put oneself in a place where one will be harder to find or out of sight. 

  • To beat with a whip made from hide. 

whitewash

noun
  • A campaign to paper over unfavorable elements. 

  • The most basic type of thickening agent, flour blended with water to make a paste. 

  • A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white. 

  • A complete victory or series of victories without suffering any losses; a clean sweep. 

verb
  • To cover over errors or bad actions. 

  • In various games, to defeat (an opponent) so that they fail to score, or to reach a certain point in the game; to skunk. 

  • To paint over with a lime and water mixture so as to brighten up a wall or fence. 

  • To make over (a person or character, a group, an event, etc) so that it is or seems more white, for example by applying makeup to a person, or by discounting the participation of people of color in an event and focusing on only white participation. 

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