alter
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alter
change: alter a will; adjust: She’ll need to alter her wedding gown to make it fit.
Not to be confused with:
altar – a table or platform used in a church service or ceremonial rite: They knelt at the altar for communion.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
al·ter
(ôl′tər)v. al·tered, al·ter·ing, al·ters
v.tr.
1. To change or make different; modify: altered my will.
2. To adjust (a garment) for a better fit.
3. To castrate or spay (an animal, such as a cat or a dog).
v.intr.
To change or become different.
[Middle English alteren, from Old French alterer, from Medieval Latin alterāre, from Latin alter, other; see al- in Indo-European roots.]
al′ter·a·bil′i·ty, al′ter·a·ble·ness n.
al′ter·a·ble adj.
al′ter·a·bly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
alter
(ˈɔːltə)vb
1. to make or become different in some respect; change
[C14: from Old French alterer, from Medieval Latin alterāre to change, from Latin alter other]
ˈalterable adj
ˈalterably adv
ˌalteraˈbility n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
al•ter
(ˈɔl tər)v.t.
1. to make different in some particular, as size, style, course, or the like; modify: to alter a coat; to alter a will.
2. to castrate or spay.
v.i. 3. to change; become different or modified.
[1350–1400; Middle English < Old French alterer < Late Latin alterāre to change, worsen, derivative of Latin alter other]
al′ter•a•ble, adj.
al`ter•a•bil′i•ty, n.
al′ter•a•bly, adv.
al′ter•er, n.
syn: See adjust, change.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
alter
Past participle: altered
Gerund: altering
Imperative |
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alter |
alter |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
Verb | 1. | alter - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" awaken, wake up, waken, rouse, wake, arouse - cause to become awake or conscious; "He was roused by the drunken men in the street"; "Please wake me at 6 AM." cause to sleep - make fall asleep; "The soft music caused us to fall asleep" affect - act physically on; have an effect upon; "the medicine affects my heart rate" indispose - cause to feel unwell; "She was indisposed" cry - bring into a particular state by crying; "The little boy cried himself to sleep" etiolate - make pale or sickly; "alcohol etiolates your skin" shade - vary slightly; "shade the meaning" animalise, animalize, brutalise, brutalize - make brutal, unfeeling, or inhuman; "Life in the camps had brutalized him" convert - change the nature, purpose, or function of something; "convert lead into gold"; "convert hotels into jails"; "convert slaves to laborers" arterialise, arterialize - change venous blood into arterial blood make, get - give certain properties to something; "get someone mad"; "She made us look silly"; "He made a fool of himself at the meeting"; "Don't make this into a big deal"; "This invention will make you a millionaire"; "Make yourself clear" counterchange, interchange, transpose - cause to change places; "interchange this screw for one of a smaller size" vascularise, vascularize - make vascular; "the yolk sac is gradually vascularized" decrepitate - to roast or calcine so as to cause to crackle or until crackling stops; "decrepitate salts" suburbanise, suburbanize - make suburban in character; "highly suburbanized cities" revolutionize, revolutionise, overturn - change radically; "E-mail revolutionized communication in academe" etiolate - bleach and alter the natural development of (a green plant) by excluding sunlight barbarise, barbarize - make crude or savage in behavior or speech; "his years in prison have barbarized the young man" alkalinise, alkalinize - make (a substance) alkaline; "The oxide is alkalized" mythicise, mythicize, mythologise, mythologize - make into a myth; "The Europeans have mythicized Rte. 66" allegorise, allegorize - make into an allegory; "The story was allegorized over time" demythologise, demythologize - remove the mythical element from (writings); "the Bible should be demythologized and examined for its historical value" coarsen - make less subtle or refined; "coarsen one's ideals" affect, bear upon, impact, bear on, touch on, touch - have an effect upon; "Will the new rules affect me?" alcoholise, alcoholize - make alcoholic, as by fermenting; "alcoholize prunes" suspend - cause to be held in suspension in a fluid; "suspend the particles" sober - cause to become sober; "A sobering thought" reconstruct - cause somebody to adapt or reform socially or politically increase - make bigger or more; "The boss finally increased her salary"; "The university increased the number of students it admitted" ease off, let up, ease up - reduce pressure or intensity; "he eased off the gas pedal and the car slowed down" assimilate - make similar; "This country assimilates immigrants very quickly" dissimilate - make dissimilar; cause to become less similar activate - make active or more active; "activate an old file" activate - make (substances) radioactive |
2. | alter - become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence; "her mood changes in accordance with the weather"; "The supermarket's selection of vegetables varies according to the season" crackle - to become, or to cause to become, covered with a network of small cracks; "The blazing sun crackled the desert sand" modulate - vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of (electromagnetic waves) move - go or proceed from one point to another; "the debate moved from family values to the economy" adapt, accommodate - make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose; "Adapt our native cuisine to the available food resources of the new country" take in - make (clothes) smaller; "Please take in this skirt--I've lost weight" branch out, broaden, diversify - vary in order to spread risk or to expand; "The company diversified" diversify, radiate - spread into new habitats and produce variety or variegate; "The plants on this island diversified" specialize, narrow down, narrow, specialise - become more focus on an area of activity or field of study; "She specializes in Near Eastern history" honeycomb - make full of cavities, like a honeycomb break - vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas" | |
3. | alter - make an alteration to; "This dress needs to be altered" | |
4. | alter - insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby | |
5. | alter - remove the ovaries of; "Is your cat spayed?" defeminise, defeminize - remove the ovaries of (female mammals such as cats) desex, desexualise, desexualize, sterilise, sterilize, unsex, fix - make infertile; "in some countries, people with genetically transmissible disabilites are sterilized" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
alter
verb
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
alter
verbThe American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُبَدِّلُيُغَيِّر
změnitupravit
ændreforandre
muuttaa
promijeniti
breyta
変更する
...을 바꾸다
pakeistipakeitimas
mainītiespārmainītpārtaisīt
predelatispremeniti
ändra
ปรับเปลี่ยน
değiş mekdeğiştirmek
thay đổi
alter
[ˈɒltəʳ]A. VT
1. (= change) [+ text] → modificar, cambiar; (esp for the worse) → alterar; [+ painting, speech] → retocar; [+ opinion, course] → cambiar de (Archit) → reformar (Sew) → arreglar
then that alters things → entonces la cosa cambia
it has altered things for the better → ha cambiado las cosas para mejor, ha mejorado las cosas
circumstances alter cases → el caso depende de las circunstancias
I see no need to alter my view → no veo ninguna necesidad de cambiar mi opinión
then that alters things → entonces la cosa cambia
it has altered things for the better → ha cambiado las cosas para mejor, ha mejorado las cosas
circumstances alter cases → el caso depende de las circunstancias
I see no need to alter my view → no veo ninguna necesidad de cambiar mi opinión
2. (= falsify) [+ evidence] → falsificar; [+ document] → alterar
3. (US) (= castrate) → castrar
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
alter
[ˈɔːltər]Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
alter
vt
(= change) → ändern; (= modify) → (ab)ändern; to alter something completely → etw vollkommen verändern; that alters things → das ändert die Sache; it does not alter the fact that … → das ändert nichts an der Tatsache, dass …
(US: = castrate, spay) → kastrieren
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
alter
[ˈɒltəʳ]1. vt (gen) → modificare, cambiare, alterare; (opinion, one's own) → cambiare, mutare; (sb else's) → far cambiare or mutare; (garment, building) → fare una modifica (or delle modifiche) a
2. vi → cambiare
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
alter
(ˈoːltə) verb to make or become different; to change. Will you alter this dress (to fit me)?; The town has altered a lot in the last two years.
ˌalteˈration nounThe alterations he has made to the play have not improved it.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
alter
→ يُبَدِّلُ změnit (se) ændre ändern αλλάζω alterar muuttaa altérer promijeniti modificare 変更する ...을 바꾸다 veranderen endre zmienić alterar изменять ändra ปรับเปลี่ยน değiştirmek thay đổi 改变Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
alter
vt. cambiar, variar; reformar.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012