ascent vs cant

ascent

noun
  • The degree of elevation of an object, or the angle it makes with a horizontal line; inclination; gradient; steepness 

  • The act of ascending; a motion upwards. 

  • An increase, for example in popularity or hierarchy 

  • The ascender height in a typeface. 

  • The way or means by which one ascends. 

  • An eminence, hill, or high place. 

cant

noun
  • An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt. 

  • An outer or external angle. 

  • A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms. 

  • Slope, the angle at which something is set. 

  • A corner (of a building). 

  • A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask. 

  • Whining speech, such as that used by beggars. 

  • A movement or throw that overturns something. 

  • A parcel, a division. 

  • A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group. 

  • A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta. 

  • An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup. 

  • Empty, hypocritical talk. 

  • A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given. 

  • A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads. 

  • An unfinished log after preliminary cutting. 

  • A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel. 

adj
  • Lively, lusty. 

verb
  • To give a sudden turn or new direction to. 

  • To talk, beg, or preach in a singsong or whining fashion, especially in a false or empty manner. 

  • To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup. 

  • To speak in set phrases. 

  • To set (something) at an angle. 

  • To bevel an edge or corner. 

  • Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms. 

  • To overturn so that the contents are emptied. 

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