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.

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)

1. to make or become different in some respect; change

2. (tr) informal chiefly US a euphemistic word for castrate, spay

[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.

alter

Past participle: altered
Gerund: altering

Imperative
alter
alter

Present
I alter
you alter
he/she/it alters
we alter
you alter
they alter

Preterite
I altered
you altered
he/she/it altered
we altered
you altered
they altered

Present Continuous
I am altering
you are altering
he/she/it is altering
we are altering
you are altering
they are altering

Present Perfect
I have altered
you have altered
he/she/it has altered
we have altered
you have altered
they have altered

Past Continuous
I was altering
you were altering
he/she/it was altering
we were altering
you were altering
they were altering

Past Perfect
I had altered
you had altered
he/she/it had altered
we had altered
you had altered
they had altered

Future
I will alter
you will alter
he/she/it will alter
we will alter
you will alter
they will alter

Future Perfect
I will have altered
you will have altered
he/she/it will have altered
we will have altered
you will have altered
they will have altered

Future Continuous
I will be altering
you will be altering
he/she/it will be altering
we will be altering
you will be altering
they will be altering

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been altering
you have been altering
he/she/it has been altering
we have been altering
you have been altering
they have been altering

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been altering
you will have been altering
he/she/it will have been altering
we will have been altering
you will have been altering
they will have been altering

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been altering
you had been altering
he/she/it had been altering
we had been altering
you had been altering
they had been altering

Conditional
I would alter
you would alter
he/she/it would alter
we would alter
you would alter
they would alter

Past Conditional
I would have altered
you would have altered
he/she/it would have altered
we would have altered
you would have altered
they would have altered

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" change, modify 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" refreshen, freshen, refresh - make fresh again fecundate, inseminate, fertilise, fertilize - introduce semen into (a female) 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" opalise, opalize - make opalescent 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" land, bring - bring into a different state; "this may land you in jail" 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?" alchemise, alchemize - alter (elements) by alchemy alcoholise, alcoholize - make alcoholic, as by fermenting; "alcoholize prunes" shape, form - give shape or form to; "shape the dough"; "form the young child's character" round down, round off, round out, round - express as a round number; "round off the amount" 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 commute, exchange, convert - exchange a penalty for a less severe one vitalise, vitalize - give life to; "The eggs are vitalized" clear, unclutter - rid of obstructions; "Clear your desk" activate - make active or more active; "activate an old file" activate - make (substances) radioactive aerate, activate - aerate (sewage) so as to favor the growth of organisms that decompose organic matter
	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" vary, change alternate, jump - go back and forth; swing back and forth between two states or conditions 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) avianise, avianize - to modify microorganisms by repeated culture in the developing chick embryo 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" widen, let out - make (clothes) larger; "Let out that dress--I gained a lot of weight" 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" alter, change, modify - 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"
	4.	alter - insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby interpolate, falsify edit, redact - prepare for publication or presentation by correcting, revising, or adapting; "Edit a book on lexical semantics"; "she edited the letters of the politician so as to omit the most personal passages"
	5.	alter - remove the ovaries of; "Is your cat spayed?" neuter, spay, castrate 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"

alter

verb

1. modify, change, reform, shift, vary, transform, adjust, adapt, revise, amend, diversify, remodel, tweak (informal), recast, reshape, metamorphose, transmute They have never altered their programmes.

2. change, turn, vary, transform, adjust, adapt, metamorphose Little had altered in the village.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

alter

verb

1. To make or become different:

change, modify, mutate, turn, vary.

2. To render incapable of reproducing sexually:

castrate, fix, geld, neuter, spay, sterilize, unsex.

Translations

يُبَدِّلُيُغَيِّر

změnitupravit

ændreforandre

ändern sich ändern umgestalten abändern

αλλάζω

alterar cambiar modificar demudarse

muuttaa

altérer modifier transformer changer joindre

promijeniti

breyta

modificare variare alterare cambiare castrare

変更する

...을 바꾸다

pakeistipakeitimas

mainītiespārmainītpārtaisīt

predelatispremeniti

ändra

ปรับเปลี่ยน

değiş mekdeğiştirmek

thay đổi

改变

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

2. (= falsify) [+ evidence] → falsificar; [+ document] → alterar

3. (US) (= castrate) → castrar

B. VI [person, place] → cambiar
I find him much altered → le veo muy cambiado
to alter for the better → mejorar, cambiar para mejor
to alter for the worse → empeorar, cambiar para peor

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

[ˈɔːltə^r]

vt (= change) [+ fact, position] → changer, modifier; [+ balance] → modifier; [+ behaviour, appearance] → changer, transformer; [+ situation, outcome, plans] → changer; [+ perception] → changer, modifier

vi (= change) [situation, outcome, plans] → changer; [fact, position] → changer; [mood] → changer; [balance] → se modifier, changer; [behaviour] → changer

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

alter

(= 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

vi → sich (ver)ändern; to alter for the better/worse → sich zu seinem Vorteil/Nachteil (ver)ändern; (things, situation) → sich zum Besseren/Schlechteren wenden

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

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 noun

The alterations he has made to the play have not improved it.

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

alter

vt. cambiar, variar; reformar.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

And this proposal of his gives rise also to further conjectures and inquiries; for some persons have doubted whether it is useful or hurtful to alter the established law of any country, if even for the better; for which reason one cannot immediately determine upon what he here says, whether it is advantageous to alter the law or not.

View in context

Surely every medicine is an innovation; and he that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator; and if time of course alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the end?

View in context

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

View in context

Let me rest, unknown." When I tried to plead with him to alter his resolution, he became for the first, and only time, violently agitated.

View in context

Thus alteration is a distinct sort of motion; for, if it were not, the thing altered would not only be altered, but would forthwith necessarily suffer increase or diminution or some one of the other sorts of motion in addition; which as a matter of fact is not the case.

View in context

At dinner one day Conway told me that it had been solemnly agreed between him and Barting that the one who died first should, if possible, communicate with the other from beyond the grave, in some unmistakable way--just how, they had left (wisely, it seemed to me) to be decided by the deceased, according to the opportunities that his altered circumstances might present.

View in context

Every word is either current, or strange, or metaphorical, or ornamental, or newly-coined, or lengthened, or contracted, or altered.

View in context

Frederica was no more altered than Lady Susan; the same restrained manners, the same timid look in the presence of her mother as heretofore, assured her aunt of her situation being uncomfortable, and confirmed her in the plan of altering it.

View in context

Julius found his father alarmingly altered in personal appearance, but in full possession of his faculties nevertheless.

View in context

Henrietta asked him what he thought of you, when they went away, and he said, `You were so altered he should not have known you again.'"

View in context

While the two were reclining in their chamber, Venus wishing to discover if the Cat in her change of shape had also altered her habits of life, let down a mouse in the middle of the room.

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Two Frogs in the belly of a snake were considering their altered circumstances.

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