alternate

al·ter·nate  (ôltr-nt, l-)

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. (-nt)

1. Happening or following in turns; succeeding each other continuously: alternate seasons of the year. See Usage Note at alternative.

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.

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. (-nt)

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

2. An alternative.

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[Latin alternre, alternt-, from alternus, by turns, from alter, other; see al-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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alter·nate·ly adv.

alter·nate·ness n.

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alternate

Verb

[-nating, -nated]

1. to occur by turns

2. to interchange regularly or in succession

Adjective

1. occurring by turns

2. every second (one) of a series: alternate days

3. being a second choice [Latin alternare]

alternately adv
alternation n

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alternate  (ôltr-nt)

1. Arranged singly at intervals on a stem or twig. Elms, birches, oaks, cherry trees, and hickory trees have alternate leaves. Compare opposite.

2. Arranged regularly between other parts, as stamens between petals on a flower.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	alternate - someone who takes the place of another person surrogate, replacement 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"
Verb	1.	alternate - go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions jump 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 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 role understudy 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) flip-flop, interchange, tack, switch, flip 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 turns; "We take turns on the night shift" take turns 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 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" alternative, substitute 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 turns; first one and then the other; "alternating feelings of love and hate" alternating cyclical, cyclic - recurring in cycles
	4.	alternate - 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"

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alternate

verb 1. interchange, change, alter, fluctuate, intersperse, take turns, oscillate, chop and change, follow one another, follow in turn

verb 2. intersperse, interchange, exchange, swap, stagger, rotate

adjective 3. alternating, interchanging, every other, rotating, every second, sequential

adjective 4. substitute, alternative, other, different, replacement, complementary

noun 5. U.S. substitute, reserve, deputy, relief, replacement, stand-by, makeshift

Translations

alternate [ɔlˈtəːnɪt] adj → alterno

vi [ˈɔltəneɪt]: to alternate (with) → alternar (con);

on alternate days → en días alternos

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alternate adj [ɔlˈtəːnɪt] → alterné(e) → alternant(e) → alternatif/ive;

(US) = alternative

vi [ˈɔltəːneɪt] → alterner;

to alternate with → alterner avec;

on alternate days → un jour sur deux, tous les deux jours

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alternate adj [ɔlˈtəːnɪt]

vi [ˈɔltəneɪt]

adj → abwechselnd;

(US) (alternative) (plans etc) → Alternativ-

vi to alternate (with) → sich abwechseln (mit);

on alternate days → jeden zweiten Tag

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alternate adj [ɔlˈtəːnɪt] → alterno/a

vi [ˈɔltəːneɪt] → alternare;

on alternate days → ogni due giorni