backtracking vs stray

backtracking

noun
  • The act of one who, or that which, backtracks; a retracing of one's steps. 

  • The usage of a runway as a taxiway, especially at private strips and smaller airports. 

  • The act of building all possible solutions to a problem incrementally, abandoning any candidate solution if it cannot lead to a valid solution. 

stray

noun
  • An act of wandering off or going astray. 

  • An area of common land for use by domestic animals generally. 

  • Any domestic animal that has no enclosure nor proper place and company, but that instead wanders at large or is lost; an estray. 

  • An instance of atmospheric interference. 

  • One who is lost, literally or figuratively. 

verb
  • To wander from company or outside proper limits; to rove or roam at large; to go astray. 

  • To wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err. 

  • To cause to stray; lead astray. 

  • To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way. 

adj
  • Having gone astray; strayed; wandering 

  • In the wrong place; misplaced. 

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