Definition of ALTER

alter

Plural: alters

Verb

Verb Forms: altered, altering, alters

  • To make or become different; to change.
  • cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
    • "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"
  • become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence
  • make an alteration to
    • "This dress needs to be altered"
  • insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby
  • remove the ovaries of
  • To change the form or structure of.
  • To become different.
  • To tailor clothes to make them fit.
  • To castrate, neuter or spay (a dog or other animal).
  • To affect mentally, as by psychotropic drugs or illness.

Noun

  • One of the personalities, identities, or selves in a person with dissociative identity disorder or another form of multiplicity.
  • Misspelling of altar.

Examples

  • One new tile can alter the entire landscape of the Words with Friends board.

Origin / Etymology

From Old French alterer (French altérer), from Medieval Latin alterāre (“to make other”), from Latin alter (“the other”), from al- (seen in alius (“other”), alienus (“of another”), etc.; see alias, alien, etc.) + compar. suffix -ter.

Antonyms

leave alone, leave be, let alone, let be, preserve

Scrabble Score: 5

alter: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
alter: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
alter: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 6

alter: valid Words With Friends Word