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alternate

/ˈɔl.tɚ.nət/noun, verb, adjective3 syllables

Alternate means: reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action).

Synonyms for alternate17

noun, as in someone who takes the place of another person

surrogate, replacement

verb, as in reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)

interchange, tack, switch, flip, flip-flop

verb, as in go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions

jump

verb, as in be an understudy or alternate for a role

understudy

verb, as in do something in turns

take turns

adjective, as in serving or used in place of another

alternative, substitute, secondary

adjective, as in occurring by turns; first one and then the other

alternating, cyclic, cyclical

adjective, as in every second one of a series

cyclic, cyclical

also used for alternate

seesaw

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Opposites of alternate

opposite

What does alternate mean?10

verb

1

reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)

2

go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions

3

be an understudy or alternate for a role

4

do something in turns“We take turns on the night shift”

5

exchange people temporarily to fulfill certain jobs and functions

adjective

1

serving or used in place of another“an alternative plan”

2

occurring by turns; first one and then the other“alternating feelings of love and hate”

3

every second one of a series“the cleaning lady comes on alternate Wednesdays”

4

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”

noun

1

someone who takes the place of another person

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Alternate in a sentence

  • The novel is set in an atompunk, alternate history.soliloquist
  • To do this, you can add alternate translations.cykel
  • In this test, easy questions alternate with more difficult ones.Ergulis
  • There are pictures on alternate pages of the book.unknown
  • There are maps on alternate pages of the book.unknown
  • The weather will alternate back and forth from sunny to cloudy tomorrow.Dalyup
  • It's come to be viewed as an alternate spelling.shekitten
  • It has come to be viewed as an alternate spelling.shekitten

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of alternate

as a noun

plural
alternates

as a verb

past tense
alternated
present participle
alternating
third-person singular
alternates
past participle
alternated