alternate vs tack

alternate

noun
  • That which alternates with something else; vicissitude. 

  • A substitute; an alternative; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty. 

  • A replacement of equal or greater value or function. 

  • A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means. 

  • Figures or tinctures that succeed each other by turns. 

verb
  • To vary by turns. 

  • To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly. 

  • To perform an alternation (removal of alternate vertices) on (a polytope or tessellation); to remove vertices (from a face or edge) as part of an alternation. 

  • To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; followed by with. 

adj
  • Other; alternative. 

  • Distributed singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence 

  • Designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second. 

  • Happening by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; first one and then the other (repeatedly) 

tack

noun
  • A direction or course of action, especially a new one. 

  • The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board. 

  • A rope used to hold in place the foremost lower corners of the courses when the vessel is close-hauled; also, a rope employed to pull the lower corner of a studding sail to the boom. 

  • Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. 

  • The maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the wind changes from one side to the other. 

  • A contract by which the use of a thing is set, or let, for hire; a lease. 

  • The stickiness of a compound, related to its cohesive and adhesive properties. 

  • That which is tacky; something cheap and gaudy. 

  • A small nail with a flat head. 

  • A stain; a tache. 

  • That which is attached; a supplement; an appendix. 

  • A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind. 

  • Food generally; fare, especially of the bread kind. 

  • A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth. 

  • A thumbtack. 

  • The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind. 

verb
  • To nail with a tack (small nail with a flat head). 

  • To maneuver a sailing vessel so that its bow turns through the wind, i.e. the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other. 

  • To add something as an extra item. 

  • To sew/stitch with a tack (loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth). 

  • to tack (something) onto (something) 

  • To place the tack on a horse; often paired with "up". 

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