skulk vs tiptoe

skulk

noun
  • A stealthy or furtive gait or way of moving. 

  • The act of moving in a stealthy or furtive way. 

  • A group of people seen as being fox-like (e.g. cunning, dishonest, or having nefarious plans). 

  • A group of foxes. 

  • The act of avoiding an obligation or responsibility. 

verb
  • To avoid an obligation or responsibility. 

  • To stay where one cannot be seen, conceal oneself (often in a cowardly way or with the intent of doing harm). 

  • To move in a stealthy or furtive way; to come or go while trying to avoid detection. 

tiptoe

noun
  • The tip of the toe. 

adj
  • Standing elevated, on or as if on the tips of one's toes. 

  • Moving carefully, quietly, warily or stealthily, on or as if on the tips of one's toes. 

verb
  • To walk quietly with only the tips of the toes touching the ground. 

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