faint vs flounder

faint

verb
  • To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent. 

  • To decay; to disappear; to vanish. 

  • To lose consciousness through a lack of oxygen or nutrients to the brain, usually as a result of suddenly reduced blood flow (may be caused by emotional trauma, loss of blood or various medical conditions). 

adj
  • Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness 

  • Performed, done, or acted, weakly; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy 

  • Slight; minimal. 

  • Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp 

  • Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected 

noun
  • The act of fainting, syncope. 

  • The state of one who has fainted; a swoon. 

flounder

verb
  • To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered. 

  • To flop around as a fish out of water. 

  • To be in serious difficulty. 

  • He gave a good speech, but floundered when audience members asked questions he could not answer well. 

  • To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance. 

noun
  • A bootmaker's tool for crimping boot fronts. 

  • A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder, Platichthys flesus. 

  • Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae. 

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