The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - alternate v.

1) rotate, exchange, change, interchange, take turns, go or take, etc. in turn, US change off, interexchange: To help out, we could alternate our days off. 2) succeed, be in succession or rotation: The wallpaper had alternating stripes of pink, grey, and maroon. --adj. 3) in rotation, successive; every other, every second: The embankment revealed alternate layers of clay and gravel. The nurse visited our district on alternate days. 4) alternative, second, other: The alternate selection contains only milk chocolate. --n. 5) variant, alternative, (second) choice, US and Canadian substitute, deputy, stand-in, backup, understudy; pinch-hitter, Baseball designated hitter: I prefer the alternate to the featured model. My alternate takes over if I am ill.