aid vs gridlock

aid

verb
  • To climb with the use of aids such as pitons. 

  • To provide support to; to further the progress of; to help; to assist. 

noun
  • Help; assistance; succor, relief. 

  • An historical subsidy granted to the crown by Parliament for an extraordinary purpose, such as a war effort. 

  • A helper; an assistant. 

  • An exchequer loan. 

  • Something which helps; a material source of help. 

  • A pecuniary tribute paid by a vassal to his feudal lord on special occasions. 

  • The rider's use of hands, legs, voice, etc. to control the horse. 

gridlock

noun
  • any paralysis of a complex system due to severe congestion, conflict, or deadlock. 

  • A condition of total, interlocking traffic congestion on the streets or highways of a crowded city, in which no one can move because everyone is in someone else's way. 

  • On a smaller scale: the situation in which cars enter a signal-controlled intersection too late during the green light cycle, and are unable to clear the intersection (due to congestion in the next block) when the light turns red, thus blocking the cross traffic when it's their turn to go. Repeated at enough intersections, this phenomenon can lead to citywide gridlock. 

verb
  • To cause traffic congestion. 

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