From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [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 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.
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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.
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It gilds all objects, but it alters none. --Pope.
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My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing
that is gone out of my lips. --Ps. lxxxix.
34.
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2. To agitate; to affect mentally. [Obs.] --Milton.
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3. To geld. [Colloq.]
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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.
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