decay vs increase

decay

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. 

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). 

increase

noun
  • The creation of one or more new stitches; see Increase (knitting). 

  • For a quantity, the act or process of becoming larger 

  • Offspring, progeny 

  • An amount by which a quantity is increased. 

verb
  • To multiply by the production of young; to be fertile, fruitful, or prolific. 

  • To become more nearly full; to show more of the surface; to wax. 

  • To make (a quantity, etc.) larger. 

  • (of a quantity, etc.) To become larger or greater. 

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