bulwark vs contest

bulwark

noun
  • A defense or safeguard. 

  • A defensive wall or rampart. 

  • A breakwater. 

  • Any means of defence or security. 

  • The planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale that reduces the likelihood of seas washing over the gunwales and people being washed overboard. 

verb
  • To fortify something with a wall or rampart. 

  • To provide protection of defense for something. 

contest

noun
  • Struggle for superiority; combat. 

  • Controversy; debate. 

  • A competition. 

verb
  • To strive earnestly to hold or maintain; to struggle to defend. 

  • To call into question; to oppose. 

  • To make a subject of litigation; to defend, as a suit; to dispute or resist, as a claim, by course of law. 

  • To contend. 

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