Adjacent Words

Alter definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AL'TER, v.t. [L. alter, another. See Alien.]
1. To make some change in; to make different in some particular; to vary in some degree, without an entire change.
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Psalms 89.
2. To change entirely or materially; as, to alter an opinion. In general, to alter is to change partially; to change is more generally to substitute one thing for another, or to make a material difference in a thing.
AL'TER, v.i. To become, in some respects, different; to vary; as, the weather alters almost daily.
The law which altereth not. Daniel 4.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" [syn: change, alter, modify]
2: become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence; "her mood changes in accordance with the weather"; "The supermarket's selection of vegetables varies according to the season" [syn: change, alter, vary]
3: make an alteration to; "This dress needs to be altered"
4: insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby [syn: interpolate, alter, falsify]
5: remove the ovaries of; "Is your cat spayed?" [syn: alter, neuter, spay, castrate]

Merriam Webster's

verb (altered; altering) Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin alterare, from Latin alter other (of two); akin to Latin alius other — more at else Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to make different without changing into something else 2. castrate, spay intransitive verb to become different Synonyms: see change • alterability noun • alterable adjective • alterably adverb • alterer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. & intr. make or become different; change. 2 tr. US & Austral. castrate or spay. Derivatives: alterable adj. alteration n. Etymology: ME f. OF alterer f. LL alterare f. L alter other

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Alter Al"ter, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Altered; p. pr. & vb. n. Altering.] [F. alt['e]rer, LL. alterare, fr. L. alter other, alius other. Cf. Else, Other.] 1. To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either partially or wholly; to vary; to modify. ``To alter the king's course.'' ``To alter the condition of a man.'' ``No power in Venice can alter a decree.'' --Shak. It gilds all objects, but it alters none. --Pope. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. --Ps. lxxxix. 34. 2. To agitate; to affect mentally. [Obs.] --Milton. 3. To geld. [Colloq.] Syn: Change, Alter. Usage: Change is generic and the stronger term. It may express a loss of identity, or the substitution of one thing in place of another; alter commonly expresses a partial change, or a change in form or details without destroying identity.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Alter Al"ter, v. i. To become, in some respects, different; to vary; to change; as, the weather alters almost daily; rocks or minerals alter by exposure. ``The law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.'' --Dan. vi. 8.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(alters, altering, altered) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. If something alters or if you alter it, it changes. Little had altered in the village... They have never altered their programmes by a single day. = change VERB: V, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Change, vary, modify, shift, turn, transmute, metamorphose, transform, convert, make some change in. II. v. n. Vary, change, be changeable, become different.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, accommodate, adapt, adjust, adjust to, alter into, ameliorate, assuage, be changed, be converted into, be renewed, become, better, bottom out, box in, break, break up, castrate, change, change into, checker, chop, chop and change, circumscribe, come about, come around, come round, come round to, condition, convert, deform, degenerate, denature, deteriorate, deviate, diminish, diverge, diversify, emasculate, eunuchize, evolve into, fall into, fit, fix, flop, geld, haul around, hedge, hedge about, improve, jibe, lapse into, leaven, limit, meliorate, melt into, mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mutate, narrow, open into, overthrow, palliate, pass into, qualify, re-create, realign, rebuild, reconstruct, redesign, reduce, refit, reform, regulate by, remake, remodel, renew, reshape, restrain, restrict, restructure, revamp, revise, revive, ring the changes, ripen into, run into, season, set conditions, set limits, settle into, shift, shift into, shift the scene, shuffle the cards, soften, spay, subvert, swerve, tack, take a turn, temper, transform, turn, turn aside, turn into, turn the corner, turn the scale, turn the tables, turn the tide, turn to, turn upside down, undergo a change, unsex, vary, veer, warp, work a change, worsen