alter

alter is on the Academic Word List.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA ^(key): /ˈɔːl.tə/ or /ˈɒl.tə/
• (US) IPA ^(key): /ˈɔl.tɚ/
• (Canada) IPA ^(key): /ˈɑl.tɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: altar
• Hyphenation: al‧ter

Verb

Plain form alter

Third-person singular alters

Past tense altered

Past participle altered

Present participle altering

1. (transitive & intransitive) If you alter something, you change it, usually in a small way.
   • Synonyms: adapt, adjust, modify, revise, transform and vary

   The design can be easily altered by selecting new colours, materials, etc.

   But not even a good cleaning would alter the fact that the room was dark and unfriendly.

   Because he was so short, he always needed to have his pants altered to fit him.

Related words

• alter ego