knuckle down vs strive

knuckle down

verb
  • To get to work; to focus on a task. 

  • To submit; knuckle under. 

strive

verb
  • To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently. 

  • To struggle in opposition; to be in contention or dispute; to contend; to contest. 

  • To vie; to compete as a rival. 

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