rush vs slough

rush

noun
  • A rapid, noisy flow. 

  • The merest trifle; a straw. 

  • A person attempting to join a fraternity or sorority as part of a rush. 

  • The stem of such plants used in making baskets, mats, the seats of chairs, etc. 

  • A regulated period of recruitment in fraternities and sororities. 

  • A roquet in which the object ball is sent to a particular location on the lawn. 

  • The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play. 

  • General haste. 

  • A sudden attack; an onslaught. 

  • A surge. 

  • Any of several stiff plants of the genus Juncus, or the family Juncaceae, having hollow or pithy stems and small flowers, and often growing in marshes or near water. 

  • A sudden forward motion. 

  • A sudden, brief exhilaration, for instance the pleasurable sensation produced by a stimulant. 

  • A wick. 

  • The strategy of attacking an opponent with a large swarm of weak units, rather than spending time developing their abilities. 

adj
  • Performed with, or requiring urgency or great haste, or done under pressure. 

verb
  • To run directly at another player in order to block or disrupt play. 

  • To flow or move forward rapidly or noisily. 

  • To swiftly attack without warning. 

  • To play at a faster tempo than one is supposed to or than the other musicians one is playing with, or to inadvertently gradually increase tempo while one is playing. 

  • To dribble rapidly. 

  • To hurry; to perform a task with great haste. 

  • To make a swift or sudden attack. 

  • To roquet an object ball to a particular location on the lawn. 

  • To attempt to join a fraternity or sorority, often involving a hazing or initiation process. 

  • To cause to move or act with unusual haste. 

  • To transport or carry quickly. 

  • To attack (an opponent) with a large swarm of units. 

slough

noun
  • A secondary channel of a river delta, usually flushed by the tide. 

  • A small pond, often alkaline, many but not all formed by glacial potholes. 

  • Dead skin on a sore or ulcer. 

  • A muddy or marshy area. 

  • A type of swamp or shallow lake system, typically formed as or by the backwater of a larger waterway, similar to a bayou with trees. 

  • A state of depression. 

  • The skin shed by a snake or other reptile. 

verb
  • To shed (skin). 

  • To slide off (like a layer of skin). 

  • To discard. 

  • To commit truancy, be absent from school without permission. 

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