alter
verb (used with object)
to make different in some particular, as size, style, course, or the like; modify.
altered
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past participleof alter.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof alter.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
alterverb (used with object)to make different in some particular, as size, style, course, or the like; modify.
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.
That approach involves observing large numbers of galaxies and extrapolating the results to determine how much helium existed before later generations of stars altered their chemical composition.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026
Yesterday is about a struggling musician who wakes up one day to find an altered world where no-one has heard of The Beatles.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Understand the world with the help of the Muppets: In 2012, Dahlia Lithwick published a piece of cultural analysis that permanently altered how readers viewed their marriages, their workplaces, and the U.S.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
But open-weight models like those released by Chinese companies can be more easily altered and optimized by users for nefarious purposes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Griffith’s and Muller’s experiments had pointed to a material substance, a chemical that could move between organisms and was quite easily altered by X-rays.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
