alternate

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive), Verb (intransitive), Adjective
• HYPHEN: al=ter=nate

CIDE DICTIONARY

alternate, a. [L. alternatus, p. p. of alternate, fr. alternus. See Altern, Alter.].

•  Being or succeeding by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; by turns first one and then the other; hence, reciprocal.  [1913 Webster]

  "And bid alternate passions fall and rise."  [1913 Webster]
•  Designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second; as, the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. ; read every alternate line.  [1913 Webster]
•  Distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence.  Gray.  [1913 Webster]

Alternate alligation. See Alligation. -- Alternate angles (Geom.), the internal and angles made by two lines with a third, on opposite sides of it. It the parallels AB, CD, are cut by the line EF, the angles AGH, GHD, as also the angles BGH and GHC, are called alternate angles. -- Alternate generation. (Biol.) See under Generation.

alternate, n. 

•  That which alternates with something else; vicissitude.  [1913 Webster]

  "Grateful alternates of substantial."  [1913 Webster]
•  A substitute; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty.  [1913 Webster]
•  A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means.  [1913 Webster]

alternate, v. t. [L. alternatus, p. p. of alternare. See Altern.].

 To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly.  [1913 Webster]
"The most high God, in all things appertaining unto this life, for sundry wise ends alternates the disposition of good and evil."  [1913 Webster]

alternate, v. i. 

•  To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; -- followed by with; as, the flood and ebb tides alternate with each other.  [1913 Webster]

  "Rage, shame, and grief alternate in his breast."  [1913 Webster]

  "Different species alternating with each other."  [1913 Webster]
•  To vary by turns; as, the land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

alternate, v., adj., & n.
--v.
1 intr. (often foll. by with) (of two things) succeed each other by turns (rain and sunshine alternated; elation alternated with depression).
2 intr. (foll. by between) change repeatedly (between two conditions) (the patient alternated between hot and cold fevers).
3 tr. (often foll. by with) cause (two things) to succeed each other by turns (the band alternated fast and slow tunes; we alternated criticism with reassurance).
--adj.
1 (with noun in pl.) every other (comes on alternate days).
2 (of things of two kinds) each following and succeeded by one of the other kind (alternate joy and misery).
3 (of a sequence etc.) consisting of alternate things.
4 Bot. (of leaves etc.) placed alternately on the two sides of the stem.
5 = ALTERNATIVE.
--n. esp. US a deputy or substitute.

Idiom

alternate angles two angles, not adjoining one another, that are formed on opposite sides of a line that intersects two other lines. alternating current an electric current that reverses its direction at regular intervals.

Derivative

alternately adv.

Etymology

L alternatus past part. of alternare do things by turns f. alternus every other f. alter other

THESAURUS

alternate

advocate, agent, alter ego, alternating, alternative, amicus curiae, analogy, attorney, back and fill, back-and-forth, backup, backup man, bandy, battledore and shuttlecock, be here again, be quits with, beating, champion, change, changeling, circle, circling, come again, come and go, come around, come round, come round again, come up again, commute, comparison, compensate, complementary, cooperate, copy, corresponding, counterchange, counterfeit, cover, cycle, cyclic, deputy, dither, do a hitch, do a stint, do a tour, do time, double, dummy, ebb and flow, enlist, epochal, equal, equivalent, equivocate, ersatz, even, every other, exchange, exchangeable, executive officer, exponent, fake, figurehead, fill in for, fill-in, flounder, fluctuate, get back at, get even with, ghost, ghostwriter, give and take, go through phases, have a go, have tenure, hitch and hike, hold office, imitation, in rotation, interchange, interchangeable, intermit, intermittent, isochronal, isochronous, keep a watch, lieutenant, locum, locum tenens, logroll, makeshift, measured, metaphor, metonymy, metronomic, mock, next best thing, oscillate, oscillatory, other, paranymph, pass and repass, pay back, pendulate, periodic, periodical, permute, personnel, phony, pinch, pinch hitter, pleader, procurator, provisional, proxy, pulsate, pulse, pulsing, re-up, reappear, reciprocal, reciprocate, reciprocative, recur, recurrent, recurring, reenlist, relief, relieve, reoccur, repeat, replacement, replacing, representative, requite, reserve, reserves, respond, retaliate, return, return the compliment, revolve, rhythmic, ride and tie, ring the changes, ringer, roll around, rotary, rotate, rotating, seasonal, second, second in command, second string, secondary, seesaw, serial, serve time, shift, shilly-shally, shuffle, shuttle, shuttlecock, sign, sign up, sine wave, spare, spares, spell, spell off, stagger, stand-in, steady, stopgap, sub, substituent, substitute, substitution, succedaneum, succeed, successive, superseder, supplanter, surrogate, swap, sway, swing, switch, symbol, synecdoche, take turns, teeter, teeter-totter, temporary, tentative, tergiversate, third string, time off, to-and-fro, token, totter, trade, transpose, turn, understudy, undulant, undulate, undulatory, up-and-down, utility, utility man, utility player, vacillate, variant, vary, vicar, vicar general, vicarious, vice, vice-president, vice-regent, vicegerent, wavelike, waver, wax and wane, wheel, wheel around, wheeling, wibble-wabble, wigwag, wobble, zigzag

ROGET THESAURUS

alternate

Irresolution

VB be irresolute, hang in suspense, keep in suspense, leave "ad referendum", think twice about, pause, dawdle, remain neuter, dillydally, hesitate, boggle, hover, dacker, hum and haw, demur, not know one's own mind, debate, balance, dally with, coquet with, will and will not, chaser-balancer, go halfway, compromise, make a compromise, be thrown off one's balance, stagger like a drunken man, be afraid, let 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would', falter, waver vacillate, change, retract, fluctuate, pendulate, alternate, keep off and on, play fast and loose, blow hot and cold, shuffle, palter, blink, trim.

Correlation

VB reciprocate, alternate, interchange, exchange, counterchange.

N correlation, reciprocalness, reciprocity, reciprocation, mutuality, correlation, interdependence, interrelation, connection, link, association, interchange, exchange, barter, reciprocator, reprocitist, reciprocal, mutual, commutual, correlative, reciprocative, interrelated, closely related, alternate, interchangeable, interdependent, international, complemental, complementary, mutually, mutatis mutandis, vice versa, each other, one another, by turns, reciprocally, happy in our mutual help.

Variation

VB vary, deviate, diverge, alternate, swerve.

Sequence

VB succeed, come after, come on, come next, follow, ensue, step into the shoes of, alternate, place after, suffix, append, follow, pursue, go after, fly after, attend, beset, dance attendance on, dog, tread in the steps of, tread close upon, be in the wake of, be in the trail of, be in the rear of, go in the wake of, go in the trail of, go in the rear of, follow in the wake of, follow in the trail of, follow in the rear of, follow as a shadow, hang on the skirts of, tread on the heels of, follow on the heels of, camp on the trail.

N sequence, coming after, going after, consecution, succession, posteriority, continuation, order of succession, successiveness, paracme, secondariness, subordinancy, afterbirth, afterburden, placenta, secundines, succeeding, v, sequent, subsequent, consequent, sequacious, proximate, next, consecutive, alternate, amoebean, latter, posterior, after, subsequently, behind, sequence, coming after, (time), following pursuit, follower, attendant, satellite, shadow, dangler, train, subsequent, next, succeeding, following, behind, in the rear, in the train of, in the wake of, after.

Discontinuity

VB be discontinuous, alternate, intermit, sputter, stop and start, hesitate, discontinue, pause, interrupt, intervene, break, break in upon, break off, interpose, break the thread, snap the thread, disconnect, dissever.

N discontinuity, disjunction, anacoluthon, interruption, break, fracture, flaw, fault, crack, cut, gap, solution of continuity, caesura, broken thread, parenthesis, episode, rhapsody, patchwork, intermission, alternation, dropping fire, discontinuous, unsuccessive, broken, interrupted, dicousu, disconnected, unconnected, discrete, disjunctive, fitful, spasmodic, desultory, intermitting, occasional, intermittent, alternate, recurrent, at intervals, by snatches, by jerks, by skips, by catches, by fits and starts, skippingly, per saltum, longo intervallo, like 'angel visits few and far between'.

Periodicity

VB recur in regular order, recur in regular succession, return, revolve, come again, come in its turn, come round, come round again, beat, pulsate, alternate, intermit.

N regularity of recurrence, periodicity, intermittence, beat, oscillation, pulse, pulsation, rhythm, alternation, alternateness, alternativeness, alternity, bout, round, revolution, rotation, turn, say, anniversary, jubilee, centenary, catamenia, courses, menses, menstrual flux, rota, cycle, period, stated time, routine, days of the week, Sunday, Monday, months of the year, January, feast, fast, Christmas, Easter, New Year's day, Allhallows, Allhallowmas, All Saints' Day, All Souls', All Souls' Day, Ash Wednesday, bicentennial, birthday, bissextile, Candlemas, Dewali, groundhog day, Halloween, Hallowmas, Lady day, leap year, Midsummer day, Muharram, woodchuck day, St. Swithin's day, natal day, yearbook, yuletide, punctuality, regularity, steadiness, periodic, periodical, serial, recurrent, cyclical, rhythmical, recurring, intermittent, remittent, alternate, every other, hourly, diurnal, daily, quotidian, tertian, weekly, hebdomadal, hebdomadary, biweekly, fortnightly, bimonthly, catamenial, monthly, menstrual, yearly, annual, biennial, triennial, centennial, secular, paschal, lenten, regular, steady, punctual, regular as clockwork, periodically, at regular intervals, at stated times, at fixed established, at established periods, punctually, de die in diem, from day to day, day by day, by turns, in turn, in rotation, alternately, every other day, off and on, ride and tie, round and round.

Changeableness

VB fluctuate, vary, waver, flounder, flicker, flitter, flit, flutter, shift, shuffle, shake, totter, tremble, vacillate, wamble, turn and turn about, ring the changes, sway to and fro, shift to and fro, change and change about, waffle, blow with the wind (irresolute), oscillate, vibrate between, two extremes, oscillate between, two extremes, alternate, have as man phases as the moon.

Oscillation

VB oscillate, vibrate, librate, alternate, undulate, wave, rock, swing, pulsate, beat, wag, waggle, nod, bob, courtesy, curtsy, tick, play, wamble, wabble, dangle, swag, fluctuate, dance, curvet, reel, quake, quiver, quaver, shake, flicker, wriggle, roll, toss, pitch, flounder, stagger, totter, move up and down, bob up and down, pass and repass, ebb and flow, come and go, vacillate, teeter, brandish, shake, flourish.