alter
to make different in some particular, as size, style, course, or the like; modify: to alter a coat; to alter a will; to alter course.
to castrate or spay.
to change; become different or modified.
Origin of alter
1synonym study For alter
Other words from alter
- al·ter·er, noun
- half-altered, adjective
- pre·al·ter, verb (used with object)
- re·al·ter, verb
- un·al·ter·ing, adjective
- well-altered, adjective
Words that may be confused with alter
- altar, alter
Other definitions for Alter (2 of 3)
David, 1807–81, U.S. physicist.
Other definitions for alter. (3 of 3)
alteration.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use alter in a sentence
If a party is protected from that pain, the incentive to listen to the public and moderate its candidates or alter its agenda wanes.
The crisis isn’t too much polarization. It’s too little democracy. | Ezra Klein | November 12, 2020 | VoxThe pandemic altered all the plans and schedules we’ve become accustomed to, and it left confusion in its wake.
Harvard eventually altered it’s platform via an eventual settlement agreement.
Is your website at risk for an ADA accessibility lawsuit? | Richard Horvath | November 12, 2020 | Search Engine LandOver the centuries, as his fame grew, people outside the Middle East altered his name to Algoritmi.
But, again, no one should expect competitive fairness in this coronavirus-altered season.
NFL Week 10 power rankings: Saints move up on the heels of the Steelers and Chiefs | Mark Maske | November 10, 2020 | Washington Post
And more trivial modifications like altering bodily odors and promoting a healthy lifestyle.
He throws every fiber of his being into each performance, altering his posture, elocution, temperament, and more.
Oscars 2015: The Daily Beast’s Picks, From Scarlett Johansson to ‘Boyhood’ | Marlow Stern | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTSex and passion; compulsive, life-changing, soul-altering sex, all to be made more explicit than he had done in the past.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut Francis has also implied that his hands are tied when it comes to changing doctrine or altering church teachings.
But a life-altering invasion of personal privacy is nothing like a trip on the steps at the Dolby Theatre.
Jennifer Lawrence Shouldn’t Laugh Off Her Nude Photo Hack | Samantha Allen | September 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe expense of altering the engine, and forking the water to bottom, and proving the mine, will not exceed 1000l.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickTheir reason for altering this plan and sending Peter to the School of Jurisprudence has not transpired.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky | Modeste TchaikovskyThen he turned, and, without altering a muscle in his heavy face, began to load the rifles and lay them out upon the table.
Menotah | Ernest G. HenhamIt will be seen that since his conversion our author has changed his objects without altering his methods.
Devil-Worship in France | Arthur Edward WaiteThe weights kept altering according as one found oneself grasping this valued thing or that.
The New Machiavelli | Herbert George Wells
British Dictionary definitions for alter
/ (ˈɔːltə) /
Origin of alter
1Derived forms of alter
- alterable, adjective
- alterably, adverb
- alterability, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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