lag vs trail

lag

verb
  • To fail to keep up (the pace), to fall behind. 

  • To respond slowly. 

  • To cause to lag; to slacken. 

  • To cover (for example, pipes) with felt strips or similar material (referring to a time lag effect in thermal transfer). 

noun
  • A method of deciding which player shall start. Both players simultaneously strike a cue ball from the baulk line to hit the top cushion and rebound down the table; the player whose ball finishes closest to the baulk cushion wins. 

  • A stave of a cask, drum, etc.; especially (engineering) one of the narrow boards or staves forming the covering of a cylindrical object, such as a boiler, or the cylinder of a carding machine or steam engine. 

  • A gap, a delay; an interval created by something not keeping up; a latency. 

  • Delay; latency. 

  • One who lags; that which comes in last. 

  • A bird, the greylag. 

  • The fag-end; the rump; hence, the lowest class. 

  • A prisoner, a criminal. 

adj
  • Late. 

  • Last made; hence, made of refuse; inferior. 

trail

verb
  • To be losing, to be behind in a competition. 

  • To show a trailer of (a film, TV show etc.); to release or publish a preview of (a report etc.) in advance of the full publication. 

  • To run or climb like certain plants. 

  • To leave (a trail of). 

  • To carry (a firearm) with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle. 

  • To transport (livestock) by herding it along a trail. 

  • To hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion. 

  • To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something). 

  • To drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along. 

  • To travel by following or creating trails. 

  • To drag (something) behind on the ground. 

  • To create a trail in. 

noun
  • A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme. 

  • The track or indication marking the route followed by something that has passed, such as the footprints of animal on land or the contrail of an airplane in the sky. 

  • A walk in which all the edges are distinct. 

  • A route for travel over land, especially a narrow, unpaved pathway for use by hikers, horseback riders, etc. 

  • A route or circuit generally. 

  • The horizontal distance from where the wheel touches the ground to where the steering axis intersects the ground. 

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