defeat vs plateau

defeat

noun
  • The act or instance of defeating, of overcoming, vanquishing. 

  • The act or instance of being defeated, of being overcome or vanquished; a loss. 

  • Frustration (by prevention of success), stymieing; (law) nullification. 

verb
  • To nullify 

  • To prevent (something) from being achieved. 

  • To reduce, to nothing, the strength of. 

  • To overcome in battle or contest. 

plateau

noun
  • A notable level of attainment or achievement. 

  • A comparatively stable level after a period of increase. 

  • A largely level expanse of land at a high elevation; tableland. 

verb
  • (of a varying quantity) To reach a stable level after a period of increase; to level off. 

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