al·ter·nate
(ôĺtər-nāt́, ăĺ-)
[Latin alternāre, alternāt-, from alternus, by turns, from alter, other.]
verb: -nat·ed, -nat·ing, -nates.
intransitive verb
- To occur in a successive manner: day alternating with night.
- To act or proceed by turns: The students alternated at the computer.
- To pass back and forth from one state, action, or place to another: alternated between happiness and depression.
- Electricity To reverse direction at regular intervals in a circuit.
transitive verb
- To do or execute by turns.
- To cause to alternate: alternated light and dark squares to form a pattern.
adjective
- Happening or following in turns; succeeding each other continuously: alternate seasons of the year. See Usage Note at: alternative
- Designating or relating to every other one of a series: alternate lines.
- Serving or used in place of another; substitute: an alternate plan.
- Botany
- Arranged singly at each node, as leaves or buds on different sides of a stem.
- Arranged regularly between other parts, as stamens between petals.
noun
- A person acting in the place of another; a substitute.
- An alternative.
derivatives
- aĺter·nate·ly
- adverb
- aĺter·nate·ness
- noun
