approve vs contend

approve

verb
  • To consider worthy (to); to be pleased (with); to accept. 

  • To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory. 

  • To make profit of; to convert to one's own profit — said especially of waste or common land appropriated by the lord of the manor. 

  • To regard as good; to commend; to be pleased with; to think well of. 

contend

verb
  • To believe (something is reasonable) and argue (for it); to advocate. 

  • To be in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight. 

  • To be in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue. 

  • To struggle or exert oneself to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend. 

  • contend with: To try to cope with a difficulty or problem. 

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