decline vs tackle

decline

verb
  • To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain. 

  • To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun. 

  • To cause to decrease or diminish. 

  • To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall. 

  • To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw. 

  • To move downwards, to fall, to drop. 

  • To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like. 

  • To reject a penalty against the opposing team, usually because the result of accepting it would benefit the non-penalized team less than the preceding play. 

  • To become weaker or worse. 

  • To recite all the different declined forms of (a word). 

noun
  • A weakening. 

  • Downward movement, fall. 

  • A reduction or diminution of activity. 

  • The act of declining or refusing something. 

  • A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road. 

tackle

verb
  • To face or deal with, attempting to overcome or fight down. 

  • To "hit on" or pursue a person that one is interested in. 

  • To bring a ball carrier to the ground. 

  • To attempt to take away a ball. 

  • To force a person to the ground with the weight of one's own body, usually by jumping on top or slamming one's weight into them. 

noun
  • Any instance in which one person intercepts another and forces them to the ground. 

  • A device for grasping an object and an attached means of moving it, as a rope and hook. 

  • A block and tackle. 

  • A man's genitalia. 

  • Equipment, gear, gadgetry. 

  • A play where a player attempts to take control over the ball from an opponent, as in rugby or football. 

  • Equipment (rod, reel, line, lure, etc.) used when angling. 

  • An offensive line position between a guard and an end: offensive tackle; a person playing that position. 

  • A play where a defender brings the ball carrier to the ground. 

  • Clothing. 

  • A defensive position between two defensive ends: defensive tackle; a person playing that position. 

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