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Definitions

alternate

[awl-ter-nayt, al-, awl-ter-nit, al-] / ˈɔl tərˌneɪt, ˈæl-, ˈɔl tər nɪt, ˈæl- /
ADJECTIVE
substitute
Synonyms
Antonyms






Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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And communities from Albuquerque to Laredo, Texas, have grappled with where to find alternate sources of drinking water.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Why would Slate go to the trouble of creating this alternate reality?

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

In the meantime, passengers will have to take longer alternate routes or switch to slower buses.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

Ross passed the bar in 1994, joined the Riverside County public defender’s office the following year and began as a Los Angeles County deputy alternate public defender in 2000.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Only then did the meaning of the sentence before her start to sink in: How much do you know about alternate worlds?

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Interval training alternates between more vigorous periods of exercise and lower-intensity periods of active recovery.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026

The rest of the album alternates between chaos and control, introspection and criticism, grungy beats and hazy surrealism.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

It alternates between "found footage" segments filmed in first person that resemble his web show, and more classic filmic shots.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

The novel alternates between the perspectives of Kate and the TV show’s writer, Phoebe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

He alternates between sitting on my lap to listen and running around with a few other kids.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

His mother, Mollie Roy, alternated Tylenol and Motrin as pediatricians typically recommend and looked after him as he rested at home.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Grieving relatives alternated between watching intently and closing their eyes, overwhelmed by the grim exercise.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

They passed air through larynges removed from deceased horses and then alternated the airflow between normal air and helium.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 25, 2026

Yamamoto threw 20 pitches to a pair of his teammates, with right-handed hitting catcher Will Smith and left-handed hitting infielder Hyeseong Kim alternated at-bats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

For whatever reason he grumbled and spat and alternated between growling orders and rubbing his big, unhealthy belly.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Roberts also said alternating between right- and left-handers was not a variable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

Professor Alexey Kornyshev from Imperial College London and his collaborators originally suggested that salt ions surrounding DNA could produce alternating patterns of electrical charge.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

Government responses have included daily individual caps on fuel purchases, a ban on stockpiling and an alternating licence-plate scheme intended to reduce the number of cars filling up.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Petrified, she recruited two charismatic friends as alternating sidekicks: daycare owner and activist Dorothy Pitman Hughes, and civil rights attorney Florynce Kennedy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

I couldn’t stop reading them, alternating between rage and sorrow; it was like having my skin rubbed off.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz


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