ambition vs prize

ambition

noun
  • Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people. 

  • An object of an ardent desire. 

  • A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal. 

  • A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things. 

verb
  • To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet. 

prize

noun
  • An honour or reward striven for in a competitive contest; anything offered to be competed for, or as an inducement to, or reward of, effort. 

  • That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power. 

  • Anything worth striving for; a valuable possession held or in prospect. 

  • A lever; a pry; also, the hold of a lever. 

  • Anything captured by a belligerent using the rights of war; especially, property captured at sea in virtue of the rights of war, as a vessel. 

  • That which may be won by chance, as in a lottery. 

verb
  • To move with a lever; to force up or open; to prise or pry. 

  • To consider highly valuable; to esteem. 

adj
  • Having won a prize; award-winning. 

  • First-rate; exceptional. 

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