al·ter·nate

(ôl′tər-nāt′, ăl′-)

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

v.intr.

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.

alternating

(ˈɔːltəˌneɪtɪŋ)

adj

happening in succession

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

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	alternating - (of a current) reversing direction; "alternating current" electricity - a physical phenomenon associated with stationary or moving electrons and protons direct - (of a current) flowing in one direction only; "direct current"
	2.	alternating - occurring by turns; first one and then the other; "alternating feelings of love and hate" alternate cyclical, cyclic - recurring in cycles

alternating

adjective interchanging, changing, shifting, swinging, rotating, fluctuating, occurring by turns, oscillating, vacillating, seesawing alternating cycles of REM and non-REM sleep

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

Translations

alternierend

alternativo alterno alternante

vaihtelevavaihtovaihtuvavuorovuorottainen

alternant alternatif

alternante alternato

každý druhýstriedavý

alternating

[ˈɒltɜːneɪtɪŋ]

A. ADJ → alterno

B. CPD alternating current N (Elec) → corriente f alterna

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

alternating

[ɔːlˈtɜː^rnətɪŋ] adj [periods, layers, stripes] → en alternancealternating current n → courant m alternatif

alternating

adj → wechselnd; a pattern with alternating stripes of red and white → ein Muster mit abwechselnd roten und weißen Streifen; alternating current → Wechselstrom m

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

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The days slipped into days, nights and twilight's alternating, cold snaps gave way to snow-falls, and cold snaps came on again, and all the while, through the long hours, the miles piled up behind them.

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The straight warp of necessity, not to be swerved from its ultimate course --its every alternating vibration, indeed, only tending to that; free will still free to ply her shuttle between given threads; and chance, though restrained in its play within the right lines of necessity, and sideways in its motions directed by free will, though thus prescribed to by both, chance by turns rules either, and has the last featuring blow at events.

View in context

To the student of old Roman walls, the middle layer will furnish a curious parallel to the thin course of tiles always alternating with the stone in those wonderful relics of the antique, and which undoubtedly contribute so much to the great strength of the masonry.

View in context

The moon was bright, and the light and shadow very strong; and nothing could be more picturesque than those curving streets, with their rows of huge high gables leaning far over toward each other in a friendly gossiping way, and the crowds below drifting through the alternating blots of gloom and mellow bars of moonlight.

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