duke it out vs war

duke it out

verb
  • To argue heavily or at length. 

  • To fight, especially with the fists. 

war

verb
  • To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe). 

  • To carry on, as a contest; to wage. 

noun
  • A particular conflict of this kind. 

  • Organized, large-scale, armed conflict between countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually but not always involving active engagement of military forces. 

  • A prolonged conflict between two groups of organized criminals, usually over organizational or territorial control. 

  • Any of a family of card games where all cards are dealt at the beginning of play and players attempt to capture them all, typically involving no skill and only serving to kill time. 

  • An argument between two or more people with opposing opinions on a topic or issue. 

  • Protracted armed conflict against irregular forces, particularly groups considered terrorists. 

  • A protracted instance of fierce competition in trade. 

  • Campaigns against various social problems. 

How often have the words duke it out and war occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )