pick vs wry

pick

verb
  • To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck. 

  • To recognise the type of ball being bowled by a bowler by studying the position of the hand and arm as the ball is released. 

  • To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together. 

  • To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails. 

  • To steal; to pilfer. 

  • To screen. 

  • To decide upon, from a set of options; to select. 

  • To harvest a fruit or vegetable for consumption by removing it from the plant to which it is attached; to harvest an entire plant by removing it from the ground. 

  • To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument. 

  • To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc. 

  • To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble. 

  • To remove something from somewhere with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth. 

  • To seek (a fight or quarrel) where the opportunity arises. 

  • To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points. 

  • To do anything fastidiously or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care. 

  • To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player. 

noun
  • Pasture; feed, for animals. 

  • A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum. 

  • A screen. 

  • A tool used for digging; a pickaxe. 

  • The blow that drives the shuttle, used in calculating the speed of a loom (in picks per minute); hence, in describing the fineness of a fabric, a weft thread. 

  • A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair. 

  • A pickoff. 

  • A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones. 

  • That which would be picked or chosen first; the best. 

  • An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate. 

  • A choice; ability to choose. 

  • A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock. 

  • A good defensive play by an infielder. 

  • An interception. 

  • An anchor. 

  • That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture. 

wry

verb
  • To twist or contort (the body, face, etc.). 

noun
  • Distortion. 

adj
  • Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place. 

  • Turned away, contorted (of the face or body). 

  • Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic. 

  • Twisted, bent, crooked. 

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