contend vs wrangle

contend

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

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

  • 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. 

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

wrangle

verb
  • To argue, to debate; also (dated), to debate or discuss publicly, especially about a thesis at a university. 

  • To quarrel angrily and noisily; to bicker. 

  • Followed by out of: to elicit (something) from a person by arguing or bargaining. 

  • To gather and organize (data, facts, information, etc.), especially in a way which requires sentience rather than automated methods alone, as in data wrangling. 

  • To make harsh noises as if quarrelling. 

  • To convince or influence (someone) by arguing or contending. 

  • To herd (horses or other livestock). 

  • To manage or supervise (people). 

noun
  • Angry disputation; noisy quarrelling. 

  • An angry dispute; a noisy quarrel; an altercation. 

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