combination vs decay

combination

noun
  • One or more elements selected from a set without regard to the order of selection. 

  • An association or alliance of people for some common purpose. 

  • A combination shot; a billiard; a shot where the cue ball hits a ball that strikes another ball on the table. 

  • A sequence of numbers or letters used to open a combination lock. 

  • The act of combining, the state of being combined or the result of combining. 

  • A rapid sequence of punches or strikes in boxing or other combat sports. 

  • A motorcycle and sidecar. 

  • An object formed by combining. 

decay

verb
  • To undergo bit rot, that is, gradual degradation. 

  • To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality. 

  • To undergo optical decay, that is, to relax to a less excited state, usually by emitting a photon or phonon. 

  • Loss of airspeed due to drag. 

  • To undergo software rot, that is, to fail to be updated in a changing environment, so as to eventually become legacy or obsolete. 

  • To change by undergoing fission, by emitting radiation, or by capturing or losing one or more electrons; to undergo radioactive decay. 

  • To cause to rot or deteriorate. 

  • Of an array: to lose its type and dimensions and be reduced to a pointer, for example when passed to a function. 

  • To rot, to go bad. 

  • To undergo prolonged reduction in altitude (above the orbited body). 

noun
  • The process or result of being gradually decomposed. 

  • A deterioration of condition; loss of status or fortune. 

  • The situation, in programming languages such as C, where an array loses its type and dimensions and is reduced to a pointer, for example by passing it to a function. 

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