DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
al·ter /ˈɔltɚ/ 及物動詞
變更,改變,閹,閹割
alter
變更
Al·ter v. t. [imp. & p. p. Altered p. pr. & vb. n. Altering.]
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.”
It gilds all objects, but it alters none. --Pope.
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. --Ps. lxxxix. 34.
2. To agitate; to affect mentally. [Obs.]
3. To geld. [Colloq.]
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.
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.”
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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]