bolter vs skulk

bolter

noun
  • A person or thing that bolts, or runs suddenly. 

  • A horse that wins at long odds. 

  • A machine or mechanism that automatically sifts milled flour. 

  • A person who sifts flour or meal. 

  • A member of a political party who does not support the party's nominee. 

  • A plant that grows larger and more rapidly than usual. 

  • In team sports, a relatively little-known or inexperienced player who inspires the team to greater success. 

  • A kind of fishing line; a boulter. 

  • A missed landing on an aircraft carrier; an aircraft that has made a missed landing. 

  • A filter mechanism. 

  • An obscure athlete who wins an upset victory. 

verb
  • To pound rapidly. 

  • To smear or become smeared with a grimy substance. 

  • To sift or filter through a sieve or bolter. 

  • To miss a landing on an aircraft carrier by failing to catch the arresting gear wires with the aircraft's tailhook. 

  • To swim or turn sideways while eating. 

  • To fish using a bolter. 

skulk

noun
  • A stealthy or furtive gait or way of moving. 

  • The act of moving in a stealthy or furtive way. 

  • A group of people seen as being fox-like (e.g. cunning, dishonest, or having nefarious plans). 

  • A group of foxes. 

  • The act of avoiding an obligation or responsibility. 

verb
  • To avoid an obligation or responsibility. 

  • To stay where one cannot be seen, conceal oneself (often in a cowardly way or with the intent of doing harm). 

  • To move in a stealthy or furtive way; to come or go while trying to avoid detection. 

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