degrade vs raise

degrade

verb
  • To lower in value or social position. 

  • To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down. 

  • To reduce in quality or purity. 

raise

verb
  • To cause to rise; to lift or elevate. 

  • To remove or break up (a blockade), either by withdrawing the ships or forces employed in enforcing it, or by driving them away or dispersing them. 

  • To cause something to come to the surface of water. 

  • To create, increase or develop. 

  • To establish contact with (e.g., by telephone or radio). 

  • To cause (a dead person) to live again; to resurrect. 

  • To increase the nominal value of (a cheque, money order, etc.) by fraudulently changing the writing or printing in which the sum payable is specified. 

  • To open, initiate. 

  • To create; to constitute (a use, or a beneficial interest in property). 

  • To collect or amass. 

  • To relinquish (a siege), or cause this to be done. 

  • To mention (a question, issue) for discussion. 

  • To promote. 

  • To produce a vowel with the tongue positioned closer to the roof of the mouth. 

  • To instantiate and transmit (an exception, by throwing it, or an event). 

  • To bring up; to grow. 

  • To respond to a bet by increasing the amount required to continue in the hand. 

  • To exponentiate, to involute. 

  • To make (bread, etc.) light, as by yeast or leaven. 

  • To bring into being; to produce; to cause to arise, come forth, or appear. 

  • To form by the accumulation of materials or constituent parts; to build up; to erect. 

  • To extract (a subject or other verb argument) out of an inner clause. 

  • To cause (the land or any other object) to seem higher by drawing nearer to it. 

noun
  • A bet that increases the previous bet. 

  • A shot in which the delivered stone bumps another stone forward. 

  • A cairn or pile of stones. 

  • A shoulder exercise in which the arms are elevated against resistance. 

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