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alternate

al·ter·nate

 (ôl′tər-nāt′, ăl′-)

v. al·ter·nat·ed, al·ter·nat·ing, al·ter·nates

v.intr.

1.

a. To occur in a successive manner: day alternating with night.

b. To act or proceed by turns: The students alternated at the computer.

2. To pass back and forth from one state, action, or place to another: alternated between happiness and depression.

3. Electricity To reverse direction at regular intervals in a circuit.

v.tr.

1. To do or execute by turns.

2. To cause to alternate: alternated light and dark squares to form a pattern.

adj. (-nĭt)

1. Happening or following in turns; succeeding each other continuously: alternate seasons of the year.

2. Designating or relating to every other one of a series: alternate lines.

3. Serving or used in place of another; substitute: an alternate plan. See Usage Note at alternative.

4. Botany

a. Arranged singly at each node, as leaves or buds on different sides of a stem.

b. Arranged regularly between other parts, as stamens between petals.

n. (-nĭt)

1. A person acting in the place of another; a substitute.

2. An alternative.


[Latin alternāre, alternāt-, from alternus, by turns, from alter, other; see al- in Indo-European roots.]


al′ter·nate·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

alternate

vb

1. (often foll by with) to occur or cause to occur successively or by turns: day and night alternate.

2. (often foll by: between) to swing repeatedly from one condition, action, etc, to another: he alternates between success and failure.

3. (tr) to interchange regularly or in succession

4. (Electrical Engineering) (intr) (of an electric current, voltage, etc) to reverse direction or sign at regular intervals, usually sinusoidally, the instantaneous value varying continuously

5. (Theatre) theatre (often foll by: for) to understudy another actor or actress

adj

6. occurring by turns: alternate feelings of love and hate.

7. every other or second one of a series: he came to work on alternate days.

8. being a second or further choice; alternative: alternate director.

9. (Botany) botany

a. (of leaves, flowers, etc) arranged singly at different heights on either side of the stem

b. (of parts of a flower) arranged opposite the spaces between other parts. Compare opposite4

n

US and Canadian a person who substitutes for another in his absence; stand-in

[C16: from Latin alternāre to do one thing and then another, from alternus one after the other, from alter other]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

al•ter•nate

(v. ˈɔl tərˌneɪt, ˈæl-; adj., n. -nɪt)

v. -nat•ed, -nat•ing,
adj., n. v.i.

1. to interchange repeatedly and regularly with one another in time or place (usu. fol. by with): Day alternates with night.

2. to change back and forth between states, actions, etc.: He alternates between hope and despair.

3. to take turns: The children alternate in doing chores.

4. Elect. to reverse direction or sign periodically.

v.t.

5. to perform or do in succession or one after another.

6. to interchange successively or regularly: to alternate hot and cold compresses.

adj.

7. interchanged repeatedly one for another: Winter and summer are alternate seasons.

8. reciprocal; mutual: alternate acts of kindness.

9. every second one of a series: Read only the alternate lines.

11. Bot.

a. placed singly at different heights on the axis, on each side in succession, or at definite angular distances from one another, as leaves on a stem.

b. opposite to the intervals between other parts: petals alternate with sepals.

n.

12. a person authorized to take the place of another who is temporarily absent.

[1505–15; < Latin alternātus, past participle of alternāre to alternate, v. derivative of alternus by turns, derivative of alter other]

al′ter•nate•ly, adv.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

alternate

alternative

1. 'alternate'

Alternate actions, events, or processes keep happening regularly after each other.

...the alternate contraction and relaxation of muscles.

If something happens on alternate days, it happens on one day, then does not happen on the next day, then happens again on the day after it, and so on. Things can also happen in alternate weeks, months, or years.

We saw each other on alternate Sunday nights.

The two courses are available in alternate years.

2. 'alternative'

You use alternative to describe something that can be used, had, or done instead of something else.

But still people try to find alternative explanations.

There is, however, an alternative approach.

Note that in American English, alternate is sometimes used with this meaning.

How would a clever researcher rule out this alternate explanation?

Alternative can also be a noun. An alternative to something is something else that you can have or do instead.

Food suppliers are working hard to provide organic alternatives to everyday foodstuffs.

A magistrate offered them a Domestic Education course as an alternative to prison.

There is no alternative to permanent storage.

You can also say that someone has two or more alternatives, meaning that they have two or more courses of action to choose from.

If a man is threatened with attack, he has five alternatives: he can fight, flee, hide, summon help, or try to appease his attacker.

Note that it used to be considered incorrect to talk about more than two alternatives.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

alternate


Past participle: alternated
Gerund: alternating
Imperative
alternate
alternate
Present
I alternate
you alternate
he/she/it alternates
we alternate
you alternate
they alternate
Preterite
I alternated
you alternated
he/she/it alternated
we alternated
you alternated
they alternated
Present Continuous
I am alternating
you are alternating
he/she/it is alternating
we are alternating
you are alternating
they are alternating
Present Perfect
I have alternated
you have alternated
he/she/it has alternated
we have alternated
you have alternated
they have alternated
Past Continuous
I was alternating
you were alternating
he/she/it was alternating
we were alternating
you were alternating
they were alternating
Past Perfect
I had alternated
you had alternated
he/she/it had alternated
we had alternated
you had alternated
they had alternated
Future
I will alternate
you will alternate
he/she/it will alternate
we will alternate
you will alternate
they will alternate
Future Perfect
I will have alternated
you will have alternated
he/she/it will have alternated
we will have alternated
you will have alternated
they will have alternated
Future Continuous
I will be alternating
you will be alternating
he/she/it will be alternating
we will be alternating
you will be alternating
they will be alternating
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been alternating
you have been alternating
he/she/it has been alternating
we have been alternating
you have been alternating
they have been alternating
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been alternating
you will have been alternating
he/she/it will have been alternating
we will have been alternating
you will have been alternating
they will have been alternating
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been alternating
you had been alternating
he/she/it had been alternating
we had been alternating
you had been alternating
they had been alternating
Conditional
I would alternate
you would alternate
he/she/it would alternate
we would alternate
you would alternate
they would alternate
Past Conditional
I would have alternated
you would have alternated
he/she/it would have alternated
we would have alternated
you would have alternated
they would have alternated

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun1.alternate - someone who takes the place of another personalternate - someone who takes the place of another person

backup man, fill-in, reliever, stand-in, backup, substitute, relief - someone who takes the place of another (as when things get dangerous or difficult); "the star had a stand-in for dangerous scenes"; "we need extra employees for summer fill-ins"

Verb1.alternate - go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions

vary, alter, change - become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence; "her mood changes in accordance with the weather"; "The supermarket's selection of vegetables varies according to the season"

2.alternate - exchange people temporarily to fulfill certain jobs and functionsalternate - exchange people temporarily to fulfill certain jobs and functions

exchange - hand over one and receive another, approximately equivalent; "exchange prisoners"; "exchange employees between branches of the company"

rotate - exchange on a regular basis; "We rotate the lead soprano every night"

3.alternate - be an understudy or alternate for a rolealternate - be an understudy or alternate for a role

memorise, memorize, con, learn - commit to memory; learn by heart; "Have you memorized your lines for the play yet?"

4.alternate - reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)alternate - reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)

change by reversal, reverse, turn - change to the contrary; "The trend was reversed"; "the tides turned against him"; "public opinion turned when it was revealed that the president had an affair with a White House intern"

5.alternate - do something in turnsalternate - do something in turns; "We take turns on the night shift"

spell - take turns working; "the workers spell every four hours"

act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel"

Adj.1.alternate - every second one of a seriesalternate - every second one of a series; "the cleaning lady comes on alternate Wednesdays"; "jam every other day"- the White Queen

cyclical, cyclic - recurring in cycles

2.alternate - serving or used in place of another; "an alternative plan"

secondary - being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate; "the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher"; "a secondary source"; "a secondary issue"; "secondary streams"

3.alternate - occurring by turnsalternate - occurring by turns; first one and then the other; "alternating feelings of love and hate"

cyclical, cyclic - recurring in cycles

4.alternate - of leaves and branches etcalternate - of leaves and branches etc; first on one side and then on the other in two ranks along an axis; not paired; "stems with alternate leaves"

phytology, botany - the branch of biology that studies plants

opposite, paired - of leaves etc; growing in pairs on either side of a stem; "opposite leaves"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

alternate

adjective

1. every other, every second The course is taught in alternate years.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

alternate

verb

To do, use, or occur in successive turns:

noun

One that takes the place of another:

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

مُتَنَاوِبمُتَنَاوِب، مُتَعَاقِبيَتَعَاقَبيَتَنَاوَب

střídatstřídavýkaždý druhýob

hver andenskifteskiftevisvekslevekslende

vuoroittainenvuorotella

alterniratinaizmjeničan

minden másodikváltogat

annar hversem skiptist áskiptast á, hafa til skiptis

交互の

교대의

besikaitaliojantiskaitaliojimasiskaitaliotikaitaliotiskas antras

katrs otraismainīgsmainīt

striedať

menjaje

alternativomväxlande

ซึ่งสลับกัน

bir…ara ilebiribirini izleyenkarşılıklınöbetleşe yapmaksıralı

luân phiên

alternate

B. [ɒlˈtɜːnɪt] N (US) (Sport) (at conference) → suplente mf

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

alternate

[ɔːlˈtɜːrnɪt]

adj

(US) (= alternative, other) [route] → autre; [version] → autre; [method] → de rechange; [plans] → de rechange

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

alternate

adj

(= alternative)alternativ; alternate routeAusweichstrecke f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

alternate

[adj ɒlˈtɜːnɪt; vb ˈɒltəneɪt]

1. adj (alternating, layers) → alternato/a; (every other, days) → alterni/e pl, uno/a sì e uno/a no
on alternate days → ogni due giorni
alternate angles → angoli alterni

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

alternate

(ˈoːltəneit) verb

to use, do etc by turns, repeatedly, one after the other. John alternates between teaching and studying; He tried to alternate red and yellow tulips along the path as he planted them.

(oːlˈtəːnət) adjective

1. coming, happening etc in turns, one after the other. The water came in alternate bursts of hot and cold.

2. every second (day, week etc). My friend and I take the children to school on alternate days.

alˈternately (-ˈtəːnət-) adverb

She felt alternately hot and cold.

alterˈnation noun

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

alternate

مُتَنَاوِب střídavý vekslende abwechselnd εναλλασσόμενος alterno vuoroittainen alterné naizmjeničan alternato 交互の 교대의 afwisselend vekslende naprzemienny alternado чередующийся omväxlande ซึ่งสลับกัน karşılıklı luân phiên 交替的

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

alternate

vt. alternar, turnar; alternating;

n. alteración.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

alternate

adj alterno; — days días alternos; un día sí, un día no; vt, vi alternar

English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.