Adjacent Words

altering definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the sterilization of an animal; "they took him to the vet for neutering" [syn: neutering, fixing, altering]

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.