- to interchange repeatedly and regularly with one another in time or place; rotate (usually followed by with): Day alternates with night.
- to change back and forth between conditions, states, actions, etc.: He alternates between hope and despair.
- to take turns: My sister and I alternated in doing the dishes.
- to reverse direction or sign periodically.
- to occur as a variant in alternation with another form.
- to perform or do in succession or one after another: to alternate comedy acts; to alternate jogging and walking.
- to interchange successively or regularly: to alternate hot and cold compresses.
- being in a constant state of succession or rotation; interchanged repeatedly one for another: Winter and summer are alternate seasons.
- reciprocal; mutual: alternate acts of kindness.
- every second one of a series: Read only the alternate lines.
- constituting an alternative: The alternate route is more scenic.
- alternative (defs. 4, 6).
- Botany.
- placed singly at different heights on the axis, on each side in succession, or at definite angular distances from one another, as leaves.
- opposite to the intervals between other organs: petals alternate with sepals.
- a person authorized to fill the position, exercise the duties, etc., of another who is temporarily absent; substitute.
- Theater.
- either of two actors who take turns playing the same role.
- an understudy.
- alternative.
- to occur or cause to occur successively or by turns
- to swing repeatedly from one condition, action, etc, to another
- to interchange regularly or in succession
- (of an electric current, voltage, etc) to reverse direction or sign at regular intervals, usually sinusoidally, the instantaneous value varying continuously
- to understudy another actor or actress
- occurring by turns
- every other or second one of a series
- being a second or further choice; alternative
- botany
- (of leaves, flowers, etc) arranged singly at different heights on either side of the stem
- (of parts of a flower) arranged opposite the spaces between other parts
- a person who substitutes for another in his absence; stand-in