skate vs sled

skate

noun
  • A runner or blade, usually of steel, with a frame shaped to fit the sole of a shoe, made to be fastened under the foot, and used for gliding on ice. 

  • The act of roller skating or ice skating 

  • A worn-out horse. 

  • A mean or contemptible person. 

  • A fish of the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea (rays) which inhabit most seas. Skates generally have small heads with protruding muzzles, and wide fins attached to a flat body. 

  • The act of skateboarding 

verb
  • To move smoothly and easily. 

  • To use the skating technique. 

  • To get away with something; to be acquitted of a crime for which one is manifestly guilty. 

  • To move along a surface (ice or ground) using skates. 

  • To skateboard. 

adj
  • Pertaining to the technique of skating. 

sled

noun
  • A vehicle on runners, used for conveying loads over the snow or ice. (contrast "sleigh", which is larger) 

  • A small, light vehicle with runners, used recreationally, mostly by children, for sliding down snow-covered hills. (A "sled" in this sense is not pulled by an animal as a "sleigh" is.) 

  • A snowmobile. 

verb
  • To ride a sled. 

  • To convey on a sled. 

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