1. (v.i.)alternate to interchange repeatedly and regularly with one another in time or place (usu. fol. by with): Day alternates with night.
2. alternate to changeback and forth between states, actions, etc.: He alternates between hope and despair.
3. alternate to take turns: The children alternate in doing chores.
4. alternate Elect. to reverse direction or sign periodically.
5. (v.t.)alternate to perform or do in succession or one after another.
6. alternate to interchange successively or regularly: to alternate hot and cold compresses.
7. (adj.)alternate interchanged repeatedly one for another: Winter and summer are alternate seasons.
8. alternate reciprocal; mutual: alternate acts of kindness.
9. alternate every second one of a series: Read only the alternate lines.
10. alternate Bot.
11. alternate placed singly at different heights on the axis, on each side in succession, or at definite angular distances from one another, as leaves on a stem.
12. alternate opposite to the intervals between other parts: petals alternate with sepals.
13. (n.)alternate a person authorized to take the place of another who is temporarily absent.
Etymology: (1505–15; < L alternātus, ptp. of alternāre to alternate, v. der. of alternus by turns, der. of alter other)
Definition of 'Alternate'
Princeton's WordNet
1. (adj)surrogate, alternate, replacement someone who takes the place of another person
2. (adj)alternate(a) every second one of a series "the cleaning lady comes on alternate Wednesdays"; "jam every other day"- the White Queen
3. (adj)alternate, alternative, substitute serving or used in place of another "an alternative plan"
4. (adj)alternate(a), alternating(a) occurring by turns; first one and then the other "alternating feelings of love and hate"
5. (verb)alternate of leaves and branches etc; first on one side and then on the other in two ranks along an axis; not paired "stems with alternate leaves"
2. (adj)Alternate designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or evennumbers of the numerals; every other; every second; as, the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. ; read every alternateline
3. (adj)Alternate distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence
4. (noun)Alternate that which alternates with something else; vicissitude
5. (noun)Alternate a substitute; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty
6. (noun)Alternate a proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means
7. (verb)Alternate to perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly
8. (verb)Alternate to happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; -- followed by with; as, the flood and ebb tides alternate with each other
9. (verb)Alternate to vary by turns; as, the land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains
Sense: to use, do etc by turns, repeatedly, one after the other John alternates between teaching and studying; He tried to alternate red and yellow tulips along the path as he planted them.
Definitions of Alternate 
Afrikaans: wissel
Arabic: يَتَنَاوَب
Bulgarian: сменям се
Brazilian: alternar
Czech: střídat (se)
German: abwechselnd
Danish: veksle; skifte
Greek: εναλλάσσω, εναλλάσσομαι
Spanish: alternar
Estonian: vaheldama
Farsi: متناوب کردن؛ یکی در میان 
Finnish: vaihdella
French: (faire) alterner
Hebrew: לסֵירוּגִין
Hindi: बारी-बारी से
Croatian: stavljati naizmjence
Hungarian: váltogat
Indonesian: saling berganti
Icelandic: skiptastá, hafa til skipt
Italian: alternare
Japanese: 交互にする
Korean: 번갈아 바꾸다
Lithuanian: kaitalioti(s)
Latvian: mainīt
Malay: menyelang nyelikan
Dutch: afwisselen
Norwegian: skiftes (om), veksle, alt
Polish: zmieniać kolejno
Persian: متناوب کردن؛ یکی در میان 
Pashto: متناوب کول، نوبتی کول
Portuguese: alternar
Romanian: a alterna
Russian: чередовать(ся)
Slovak: striedať
Slovenian: menjavati
Serbian: smenjivati se
Swedish: alternera
Thai: สลับ
Turkish: sırayla kullanmak, nöbetl
Taiwanese: 交替
Ukrainian: чергувати(ся)
Urdu: ایک چھوڑ کے ایک
Vietnamese: xen kẽ
Chinese: 交替
