assist vs contend

assist

verb
  • To help compensate for what is missing with the help of a medical technique or therapy. 

  • To help. 

  • To make a pass that leads directly towards scoring. 

noun
  • A decisive pass made to the goal scorer 

  • A helpful action or an act of giving. 

  • A defensive play, allowing a teammate to record a putout. 

contend

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

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

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

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