maneuver vs plot

maneuver

noun
  • Any strategic or cunning action; a stratagem. 

  • A controlled (especially skillful) movement taken while steering a vehicle. 

  • The planned movement of troops, vehicles etc.; a strategic repositioning; (later also) a large training field-exercise of fighting units. 

  • A specific medical or surgical movement, often eponymous, done with the doctor's hands or surgical instruments. 

  • A movement of the body, or with an implement, instrument etc., especially one performed with skill or dexterity. 

verb
  • To move (something, or oneself) carefully, and often with difficulty, into a certain position. 

  • To guide, steer, manage purposefully 

  • To intrigue, manipulate, plot, scheme 

plot

noun
  • Participation in any stratagem or conspiracy. 

  • An area or land used for building on or planting on. 

  • A plan; a purpose. 

  • A graph or diagram drawn by hand or produced by a mechanical or electronic device. 

  • Contrivance; deep reach thought; ability to plot or intrigue. 

  • Attractive physical attributes of characters involved in a story, originating from ironic juxtaposition with the original meaning (course of the story). 

  • A secret plan to achieve an end, the end or means usually being illegal or otherwise questionable. 

  • The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means. 

verb
  • To mark (a point on a graph, chart, etc). 

  • To conceive (a crime, misdeed etc). 

  • To trace out (a graph or diagram). 

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