alternate

alternate is a 9-letter English word with 19 senses as adjective, noun, transitive verb, intransitive verb, and verb in the JumbleFix dictionary. One common meaning is: 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. Face value is 9 in Scrabble and 11 in Words With Friends. Use the entries below when you need a playable sense, a nearby word, or another arrangement of the same letters.

9 letters · Scrabble 9 · Words With Friends 11 · 19 senses

Definitions

1. adjective. 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.
2. adjective. 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. adjective. Distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence.
4. noun. That which alternates with something else; vicissitude.
5. noun. A substitute; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty.
6. noun. A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means.
7. transitive verb. To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly.
8. intransitive verb. 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.
9. intransitive verb. To vary by turns; as, the land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.
10. noun. someone who takes the place of another person

    Synonyms: replacement, surrogate

11. verb. do something in turns

    "We take turns on the night shift"

12. verb. go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions

    Synonyms: jump

13. verb. reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)

    Synonyms: flip, interchange, switch, tack

14. verb. be an understudy or alternate for a role

    Synonyms: understudy

15. verb. exchange people temporarily to fulfill certain jobs and functions
16. adjective. occurring by turns; first one and then the other

    "alternating feelings of love and hate"

    Synonyms: alternating

17. adjective. every second one of a series- the White Queen

    "the cleaning lady comes on alternate Wednesdays"

    "jam every other day"

18. adjective. 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"

19. adjective. serving or used in place of another

    "an alternative plan"

    Synonyms: alternative, substitute

Synonyms

replacement, surrogate, jump, flip, interchange, switch, tack, understudy, alternating, alternative, substitute

Common word forms

alternated, alternater, alternates, alternately, alternating, alternateness

Words from these letters

If you are holding these tiles, the unscrambler for ALTERNATE lists every valid word you can make from the same letters, including shorter plays.