"alternate" in the noun sense
1. surrogate, alternate, replacement
someone who takes the place of another person
"alternate" in the verb sense
1. alternate, jump
go back and forth swing back and forth between two states or conditions
2. alternate
exchange people temporarily to fulfill certain jobs and functions
3. understudy, alternate
be an understudy or alternate for a role
4. interchange, tack, switch, alternate, flip, flip-flop
reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)
5. alternate, take turns
do something in turns
"We take turns on the night shift"
"alternate" in the adjective sense
1. alternate
every second one of a series
"the cleaning lady comes on alternate Wednesdays"
"jam every other day"- the White Queen
2. alternate, alternative, substitute
serving or used in place of another
"an alternative plan"
3. alternate, alternating
occurring by turns first one and then the other
"alternating feelings of love and hate"
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"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.
View WordNet® License