bulwark vs wharf

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. 

wharf

noun
  • A man-made landing place for ships on a shore or river bank. 

  • The bank of a river, or the shore of the sea. 

verb
  • To place on a wharf. 

  • To secure by a wharf. 

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