approve vs uphold

approve

verb
  • To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory. 

  • To make profit of; to convert to one's own profit — said especially of waste or common land appropriated by the lord of the manor. 

  • To consider worthy (to); to be pleased (with); to accept. 

  • To regard as good; to commend; to be pleased with; to think well of. 

uphold

verb
  • To support by approval or encouragement, to confirm (something which has been questioned) 

  • To keep erect; to support; to sustain; to keep from falling 

  • To hold up; to lift on high; to elevate. 

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