bulwark vs ram

bulwark

noun
  • 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. 

  • A defensive wall or rampart. 

  • A defense or safeguard. 

  • A breakwater. 

  • Any means of defence or security. 

verb
  • To fortify something with a wall or rampart. 

  • To provide protection of defense for something. 

ram

noun
  • A warship intended to sink other ships by ramming them. 

  • A piston powered by hydraulic pressure. 

  • A weight which strikes a blow, in a ramming device such as a pile driver, steam hammer, or stamp mill. 

  • A reinforced section of the bow of a warship, intended to be used for ramming other ships. 

  • An act of ramming. 

  • A battering ram; a heavy object used for breaking through doors. 

  • A male sheep, typically uncastrated. 

adj
  • Rancid; offensive in smell or taste. 

verb
  • To thrust during sexual intercourse. 

  • To fill or compact by pounding or driving. 

  • To strike (something) hard, especially with an implement. 

  • To collide with (an object), usually with the intention of damaging it or disabling its function. 

  • To seat a cartridge, projectile, or propellant charge in the breech of a firearm by pushing or striking. 

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