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Definitions for Alternate

[1] to interchange repeatedly and regularly with one another in time or place; rotate (usually followed by with ): Day alternates with night.
[2] to change back and forth between conditions, states, actions, etc.: He alternates between hope and despair.
[3] to take turns: My sister and I alternated in doing the dishes.
[4] Electricity . to reverse direction or sign periodically.
[5] Linguistics . to occur as a variant in alternation with another form.
[6] to perform or do in succession or one after another: to alternate comedy acts; to alternate jogging and walking.
[7] to interchange successively or regularly: to alternate hot and cold compresses.
[8] being in a constant state of succession or rotation; interchanged repeatedly one for another: Winter and summer are alternate seasons.
[9] reciprocal; mutual: alternate acts of kindness.
[10] every second one of a series: Read only the alternate lines.
[11] constituting an alternative: The alternate route is more scenic.
[12] alternative(defs 4, 6) .
[13] Botany . placed singly at different heights on the axis, on each side in succession, or at definite angular distances from one another, as leaves. opposite to the intervals between other organs: petals alternate with sepals.
[14] a person authorized to fill the position, exercise the duties, etc., of another who is temporarily absent; substitute.
[15] Theater . either of two actors who take turns playing the same role. an understudy.
[16] alternative.
[17] (often foll by with) to occur or cause to occur successively or by turns day and night alternate
[18] (intr often foll by between ) to swing repeatedly from one condition, action, etc, to another he alternates between success and failure
[19] (tr) to interchange regularly or in succession
[20] (intr) (of an electric current, voltage, etc) to reverse direction or sign at regular intervals, usually sinusoidally, the instantaneous value varying continuously
[21] (intr often foll by for ) theatre to understudy another actor or actress
[22] occurring by turns alternate feelings of love and hate
[23] every other or second one of a series he came to work on alternate days
[24] being a second or further choice; alternative alternate director
[25] botany (of leaves, flowers, etc) arranged singly at different heights on either side of the stem (of parts of a flower) arranged opposite the spaces between other parts Compare opposite (def. 4)
[26] US and Canadian a person who substitutes for another in his absence; stand-in

Words related to Alternate

backup, rotate, vary, intersperse, waver, alter, sub, surrogate, double, equivalent, proxy, fill-in, replacement, stand-in, interchange, vacillate, exchange, shift, relieve, sway

Words nearby Alternate

altered chord, altered state of consciousness, altern, alternans, alternant, alternate, alternate angles, alternate binaural loudness balance test, alternate cover test, alternate hemianesthesia, alternate host

Origin of Alternate

First recorded in 1505–15, alternate is from the Latin word alternātus (past participle of alternāre ). See altern, -ate1

Words that may be confused with Alternate

alternate, alternative

Other words from Alternate

al·ter·nate·ly , adverb
al·ter·nate·ness , noun
al·ter·nat·ing·ly , adverb
non·al·ter·nat·ing , adjective
qua·si-al·ter·nat·ing , adjective
qua·si-al·ter·nat·ing·ly , adverb
un·al·ter·nat·ed , adjective
un·al·ter·nat·ing , adjective

Word origin for Alternate

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

Synonyms for Alternate

backup, double, equivalent, fill-in, proxy, replacement, stand-in, sub, surrogate