alternating

Definition of Alternating in English :

1. alternating

(of a current) reversing direction

Example Sentences:
'alternating current'

2. alternate, alternating

occurring by turns; first one and then the other

Example Sentences:
'alternating feelings of love and hate'

WordNet Lexical Database for English. Princeton University. 2010.

Alternating

adjective

happening in succession

the alternating Governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif

their alternating periods of excitement and repose

an imaginative novel, with alternating chapters presenting each partner's point of view.

alternating lines of red and yellow

v. al·ter·nat·ed, al·ter·nat·ing, al·ter·nates

v.intr.

1.

a. To occur in a successive manner: day alternating with night.

b. To act or proceed by turns: The students alternated at the computer.

2. To pass back and forth from one state, action, or place to another: alternated between happiness and depression.

3. Electricity To reverse direction at regular intervals in a circuit.

v.tr.

1. To do or execute by turns.

2. To cause to alternate: alternated light and dark squares to form a pattern.

adj. (-nĭt)

1. Happening or following in turns; succeeding each other continuously: alternate seasons of the year.

2. Designating or relating to every other one of a series: alternate lines.

3. Serving or used in place of another; substitute: an alternate plan. See Usage Note at alternative.

4. Botany

a. Arranged singly at each node, as leaves or buds on different sides of a stem.

b. Arranged regularly between other parts, as stamens between petals.

n. (-nĭt)

1. A person acting in the place of another; a substitute.

2. An alternative.