Alter

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alter \Al"ter\, v. i.
     To become, in some respects, different; to vary; to change;
     as, the weather alters almost daily; rocks or minerals alter
     by exposure. "The law of the Medes and Persians, which
     altereth not." --Dan. vi. 8.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alter \Al"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Altered}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Altering}.] [F. alt['e]rer, LL. alterare, fr. L. alter
     other, alius other. Cf. {Else}, {Other}.]
     1. To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either
        partially or wholly; to vary; to modify. "To alter the
        king's course." "To alter the condition of a man." "No
        power in Venice can alter a decree." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It gilds all objects, but it alters none. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing
              that is gone out of my lips.          --Ps. lxxxix.
                                                    34.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To agitate; to affect mentally. [Obs.] --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To geld. [Colloq.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: {Change}, {Alter}.
  
     Usage: Change is generic and the stronger term. It may
            express a loss of identity, or the substitution of one
            thing in place of another; alter commonly expresses a
            partial change, or a change in form or details without
            destroying identity.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  alter
       v 1: 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" [syn: {change}, {modify}]
       2: make or 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" [syn: {change}, {vary}]
       3: make an alteration to; "This dress needs to be altered"
       4: insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby [syn: {interpolate},
           {falsify}]
       5: remove the ovaries of; "Is your cat spayed?" [syn: {neuter},
           {spay}, {castrate}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  121 Moby Thesaurus words for "alter":
     abate, accommodate, adapt, adjust, adjust to, alter into,
     ameliorate, assuage, be changed, be converted into, be renewed,
     become, better, bottom out, box in, break, break up, castrate,
     change, change into, checker, chop, chop and change, circumscribe,
     come about, come around, come round, come round to, condition,
     convert, deform, degenerate, denature, deteriorate, deviate,
     diminish, diverge, diversify, emasculate, eunuchize, evolve into,
     fall into, fit, fix, flop, geld, haul around, hedge, hedge about,
     improve, jibe, lapse into, leaven, limit, meliorate, melt into,
     mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mutate, narrow, open into,
     overthrow, palliate, pass into, qualify, re-create, realign,
     rebuild, reconstruct, redesign, reduce, refit, reform, regulate by,
     remake, remodel, renew, reshape, restrain, restrict, restructure,
     revamp, revise, revive, ring the changes, ripen into, run into,
     season, set conditions, set limits, settle into, shift, shift into,
     shift the scene, shuffle the cards, soften, spay, subvert, swerve,
     tack, take a turn, temper, transform, turn, turn aside, turn into,
     turn the corner, turn the scale, turn the tables, turn the tide,
     turn to, turn upside down, undergo a change, unsex, vary, veer,
     warp, work a change, worsen