from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Alternate \Al*ter"nate\ (?; 277), a. [L. alternatus, p. p. of
alternate, fr. alternus. See {Altern}, {Alter}.]
1. Being or succeeding by turns; one following the other in
succession of time or place; by turns first one and then
the other; hence, reciprocal.
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And bid alternate passions fall and rise. --Pope.
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2. Designating the members in a series, which regularly
intervene between the members of another series, as the
odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every
second; as, the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.; read
every alternate line.
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3. (Bot.) Distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights
of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular
divergence. --Gray.
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{Alternate alligation}. See {Alligation}.
{Alternate angles} (Geom.), the internal and angles made by
two lines with a third, on opposite sides of it. It the
parallels AB, CD, are cut by the line EF, the angles AGH,
GHD, as also the angles BGH and GHC, are called alternate
angles.
{Alternate generation}. (Biol.) See under {Generation}.
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