gallop vs stray

gallop

noun
  • An act or instance of going or running rapidly. 

  • The fastest gait of a horse, a two-beat stride during which all four legs are off the ground simultaneously. 

  • An abnormal rhythm of the heart, made up of three or four sounds, like a horse's gallop. 

verb
  • To go rapidly or carelessly, as in making a hasty examination. 

  • To ride at a galloping pace. 

  • To make electrical or other utility lines sway and/or move up and down violently, usually due to a combination of high winds and ice accrual on the lines. 

  • To run very fast. 

  • To progress rapidly through the body. 

  • To run at a gallop. 

  • To cause to gallop. 

stray

noun
  • An act of wandering off or going astray. 

  • An area of common land for use by domestic animals generally. 

  • Any domestic animal that has no enclosure nor proper place and company, but that instead wanders at large or is lost; an estray. 

  • An instance of atmospheric interference. 

  • One who is lost, literally or figuratively. 

verb
  • To wander from company or outside proper limits; to rove or roam at large; to go astray. 

  • To wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err. 

  • To cause to stray; lead astray. 

  • To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way. 

adj
  • Having gone astray; strayed; wandering 

  • In the wrong place; misplaced. 

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