falter vs slalom

falter

verb
  • To waver or be unsteady; to weaken or trail off. 

  • To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; said of the mind or of thought. 

  • To hesitate in purpose or action. 

  • To cleanse or sift, as barley. 

  • To stammer; to utter with hesitation, or in a weak and trembling manner. 

  • To stumble. 

  • To lose faith or vigor; to doubt or abandon (a cause). 

noun
  • An unsteadiness. 

slalom

verb
  • To move in a slalom-like manner. 

  • To race in a slalom. 

noun
  • A race or competition wherein participants each perform the sport of slalom. 

  • A course used for the sport of slalom. 

  • The sport of skiing in a zigzag course through gates. (Often used attributively) 

  • Any similar activity on other vehicles, including canoes and water skis. 

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