alternate
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
alternate
▶verb /ˈɔːltəneɪt, ˈɒl-/ occur or do in turn repeatedly.
■ change repeatedly between two contrasting conditions.
▶adjective /ɔːlˈtəːnət, ɒl-/ - 1 every other.
■ (of two things) each following and succeeded by the other in a regular pattern.
■ Botany (of leaves or shoots) placed alternately on the two sides of the stem.
- 2 chiefly N. Amer. another term for alternative.
– derivatives
alternately adverb,
alternation noun.
alternately adverb,
alternation noun.
usage: The use of alternate to mean alternative is common in North American English, though still generally regarded as incorrect in Britain.
'alternate' also found in these Oxford entries:
agouti
- alternate angles
- blow
- boustrophedon
- corn snow
- corrugated
- crawl
- cross-cut
- ding-dong
- English bond
- every
- Flemish bond
- intercut
- interlace
- interlard
- ley farming
- long metre
- moss stitch
- one-two
- PAL
- parallax
- quatrain
- rib
- sandwich course
- sardonyx
- sinuate
- stichomythia
- stocking stitch
- stratovolcano
- streaky
- switchback
- tabaret
- tide
- triple tonguing
- zigzag
