decline vs ward

decline

verb
  • To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw. 

  • To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain. 

  • To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun. 

  • To cause to decrease or diminish. 

  • To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall. 

  • To move downwards, to fall, to drop. 

  • To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like. 

  • To reject a penalty against the opposing team, usually because the result of accepting it would benefit the non-penalized team less than the preceding play. 

  • To become weaker or worse. 

  • To recite all the different declined forms of (a word). 

noun
  • A weakening. 

  • Downward movement, fall. 

  • A reduction or diminution of activity. 

  • The act of declining or refusing something. 

  • A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road. 

ward

verb
  • To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches (usually followed by off) 

  • To defend, to protect. 

  • To be vigilant; to keep guard. 

  • To act on the defensive with a weapon. 

  • To keep in safety, to watch over, to guard. 

noun
  • The ridges on the inside of a lock, or the incisions on a key. 

  • The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc.) 

  • An object used for guarding. 

  • A subdivision of the LDS Church, smaller than and part of a stake, but larger than a branch. 

  • A part of a hospital, with beds, where patients reside. 

  • A section or subdivision of a prison. 

  • An enchantment or spell placed over a designated area or social unit, that prevents any tresspasser from entering; approaching; or even being able to locate said protected premises or demographic. 

  • A guarding or defensive motion or position. 

  • Land tenure through military service. 

  • Guardianship, especially of a child or prisoner. 

  • A warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman. 

  • An area of a castle, corresponding to a circuit of the walls. 

  • An administrative division of a borough, city or council. 

  • A minor looked after by a guardian. 

  • A division of a forest. 

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