Meaning

In reciprocal succession; succeeding by turns; in alternate order..

Definitions by Sense

1. In reciprocal succession; succeeding by turns; in alternate order.
2. (mathematics) By alternation; when, in a proportion, the antecedent term is compared with antecedent, and consequent.
3. (chiefly Canada, US, sometimes proscribed) Alternatively.

Example Sentences

All night Katerina and I watched alternately, though, I shame to say, I slept more than I watched; and, having first ascertained that there was no change, I came directly hither.

Tired with the heat and my walk, I threw myself down on the grass in the shadow of the house, where I lay half-asleep enjoying a quiet rest, when I was startled by an unpleasant clamour, the jarring voice of a woman, who was trying by alternately scolding and using pet names to pacify a litter of grunting pigs on the farm.

Well, I can't help noticing that you insult me and then you're polite to me alternately.

The 2025 timetable would feature two trains per hour, alternately routed via Kirkcaldy (with 11 intermediate stops) and Dunfermline (14 stops), with journey times ranging between 65 and 81 minutes.

Downstairs, he was informed. That is, down the escalators, where there is both a women’s room (often with a line) and a men’s room (almost never with a line). Or alternately, he could ask the station master to buzz him into the “family” bathroom. He opted to go downstairs.

Westerners have never quite understood the reverence in Japan for fugu, alternately known in English as puffer fish, globefish or blowfish, of the family Tetraodontidae.

Synonyms for alternately

Related Words

When Should You Use Alternately?

Use alternately when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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