fleet vs herd

fleet

noun
  • A large, coordinated group of people. 

  • A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc. 

  • Any command of vessels exceeding a squadron in size, or a rear admiral's command, composed of five sail-of-the-line, with any number of smaller vessels. 

  • An arm of the sea; a run of water, such as an inlet or a creek. 

  • A location, as on a navigable river, where barges are secured. 

  • Any group of associated items. 

  • A group of vessels or vehicles. 

verb
  • To flee, to escape, to speed away. 

  • To pass over rapidly; to skim the surface of. 

  • To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain. 

  • To hasten over; to cause to pass away lightly, or in mirth and joy. 

  • To move up a rope, so as to haul to more advantage; especially to draw apart the blocks of a tackle. 

  • To move or change in position. 

  • To take the cream from; to skim. 

  • To evanesce, disappear, die out. 

adj
  • Swift in motion; light and quick in going from place to place. 

  • Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil. 

herd

noun
  • A crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble. 

  • A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper. 

  • Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company. 

verb
  • To manage, care for or guard a herd 

  • To act as a herdsman or a shepherd. 

  • To unite or associate in a herd 

  • To move or drive a herd. 

  • To associate; to ally oneself with, or place oneself among, a group or company. 

  • To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company. 

  • To form or put into a herd. 

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