retard vs surge

retard

verb
  • To put off; to postpone. 

  • To decelerate; to slow down. 

  • To keep delaying; to continue to hinder; to prevent from progressing. 

noun
  • Retardation; delay. 

  • A slowing down of the tempo; a ritardando. 

  • A person or being who is extremely stupid or slow to learn. 

surge

verb
  • To slack off a line. 

  • To experience a momentary reversal of airflow through the compressor section due to disruption of intake airflow. 

  • To accelerate forwards, particularly suddenly. 

  • To rush, flood, or increase suddenly. 

noun
  • A deployment in large numbers at short notice. 

  • The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's forward/backward oscillation. 

  • The tapered part of a windlass barrel or a capstan, upon which the cable surges, or slips. 

  • A sudden transient rush, flood or increase. 

  • A momentary reversal of the airflow through the compressor section of a jet engine due to disruption of the airflow entering the engine's air intake, accompanied by loud banging noises, emission of flame, and temporary loss of thrust. 

  • A sudden electrical spike or increase of voltage and current. 

  • The swell or heave of the sea (FM 55-501). 

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