bulwark vs defensive

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. 

defensive

noun
  • A means, attitude or position of defense. 

adj
  • Intended for defence; protective. 

  • In a state or posture of defense. 

  • Of a bowling or fielding tactic designed to prevent the other side from scoring runs; of a batting tactic designed to prevent being out. 

  • Performed so as to minimise risk. 

  • Displaying an inordinate sensitivity to criticism or intrusion; oversensitive; thin-skinned. 

  • Pertaining to defense, as opposed to attack. 

  • Intended to deter attack. 

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