defile vs save

defile

verb
  • To act inappropriately towards or vandalize (something sacred or special); to desecrate, to profane. 

  • To make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean; to befoul, to soil. 

  • Synonym of defilade (“to fortify (something) as a protection from enfilading fire”) 

  • To make (someone or something) morally impure or unclean; to corrupt, to tarnish. 

  • To cause (something or someone) to become ritually unclean. 

noun
  • A narrow passage or way (originally (military), one which soldiers could only march through in a single file or line), especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains. 

  • A single file of soldiers; (by extension) any single file. 

  • An act of marching in files or lines. 

  • An act of defilading a fortress or other place, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior. 

save

verb
  • To obviate or make unnecessary. 

  • To keep (something) safe; to safeguard. 

  • To spare (somebody) from effort, or from something undesirable. 

  • To redeem or protect someone from eternal damnation. 

  • To catch or deflect (a shot at goal). 

  • To store for future use. 

  • To economize or avoid waste. 

  • To preserve, as a relief pitcher, (a win of another pitcher's on one's team) by defending the lead held when the other pitcher left the game. 

  • To write a file to disk or other storage medium. 

  • To refrain from romantic or (especially in later use) sexual relationships until one is married or is with a suitable partner. 

  • To help (somebody) to survive, or rescue (somebody or something) from harm. 

  • To conserve or prevent the wasting of. 

  • To accumulate money or valuables. 

noun
  • The act, process, or result of saving data to a storage medium. 

  • A saving throw. 

  • A successful attempt by a relief pitcher to preserve the win of another pitcher on one's team. 

  • In various sports, a block that prevents an opponent from scoring. 

  • An instance of preventing (further) harm or difficulty. 

  • A point in a professional wrestling match when one or more wrestlers run to the ring to aid a fellow wrestler who is being beaten. 

  • An action that brings one back out of an awkward situation. 

conj
  • unless; except 

prep
  • Except; with the exception of. 

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