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Alternate   /ˈɔltərnət/  /ˈɔltərnˌeɪt/   Listen
adjective
Alternate  adj.  
1.
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. "And bid alternate passions fall and rise."
2.
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.
3.
(Bot.) Distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence.
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.



verb
Alternate  v. t.  (past & past part. alternated; pres. part. alternating)  To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly. "The most high God, in all things appertaining unto this life, for sundry wise ends alternates the disposition of good and evil."



Alternate  v. i.  
1.
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. "Rage, shame, and grief alternate in his breast." "Different species alternating with each other."
2.
To vary by turns; as, the land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.



noun
Alternate  n.  
1.
That which alternates with something else; vicissitude. (R.) "Grateful alternates of substantial."
2.
A substitute; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty.
3.
(Math.) A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Alternate" Quotes from Famous Books



... In that ideal establishment the girls went to Washington to study political economy in the winter. They went to Saratoga in July and August to study the analytical processes of chemistry. There was also a course there on the history of the Revolution. They went to Newport alternate years in the same months, to study the Norse literature and swimming. They went to the White Sulphur Springs and to Bath, to study the history of chivalry as illustrated in the annual tournaments. They went to Paris to study French, to Rome to study Latin, to Athens to study Greek. In all ...
— How To Do It • Edward Everett Hale

... pole, which has been thrust through a piece of buffalo hide that has its long end sewed together, forming a sort of covering. To this hide are fastened feathers of the crow and mi^{n}[']xa-sa^{n}, or swan, in alternate rows or bunches. Between the feathers are fastened square pieces of blanket. About the middle of the pole a space of nearly 6 inches is left without feathers, and this is the place where the spear is grasped. When the pole was not set into a metal point the lower ...
— Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements • James Owen Dorsey,

... female descendants, Mrs. Norton, the Duchess of Somerset, and Lady Dufferin, whilst they have also inherited her musical talents, and the wit and ability of their grandfather. Mrs. Sheridan, after a life of alternate splendour and privation, died at Clifton, of consumption, before middle age. Her death was saddened, if not hastened, by her carriage, as she was preparing to drive out on the Downs, being seized for her husband's ...
— Beaux and Belles of England • Mary Robinson

... public concert of a Herr Gugel's, and when twelve years old he began to compose, and actually wrote a trio, some sonatas, a cantata, and several organ pieces. His home life was in the highest degree favorable to his musical development. On alternate Sundays musical performances were regularly given with a small orchestra in the large dining-room, Felix or his sister Fanny, who also possessed remarkable musical gifts, taking the pianoforte part, and new compositions by Felix were always included in the programme. Many friends, ...
— Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8 (of 8) • Various

... use of it; upon which the sore grain spread, and was painful; but, upon a return to the use of the Belladonna, was again mended to a considerable degree; when the same fears again returning, the use of it was again laid aside, and with the same consequence, the sore becoming worse. Of these alternate states, connected with the alternate use of and abstinence from the Belladonna, there were several of these alterations which fell under my own observation [Footnote: See the Poisonous Plants, in a future page].—Cullen's Mat. Med. vol. ...
— The Botanist's Companion, Vol. II • William Salisbury


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