Alter

to make different in some particular, as size, style, course, or the like; modify:
to alter a coat; to alter a will; to alter course.
to castrate or spay.
to change; become different or modified.
david, 1807–81, u.s. physicist.
.
.
in alt, in the first octave above the treble staff.
another exactly the same.
contemporary examples

revealing herself as both miriam weeks and alter ego belle knox made her feel vulnerable.
p-rn keeps up with the kardashians: belle knox on the mainstreaming of adult stars aurora snow september 26, 2014

he understood the threats that were about but refused to let them alter the way he lived his life.
exclusive excerpt: mlk’s haunting final hours hampton sides april 23, 2010

no amount of u.s. air and drone attacks will alter this situation.
iraq is vietnam 2.0 and u.s. drones won’t solve the problem leslie h. gelb june 11, 2014

or alter policies on whether or not they are willing to accept such high bandwidth, as crazy as that might seem.
p-rn fights for your right to surf: p-rnhub, youp-rn, and redtube lead charge for net neutrality aurora snow september 12, 2014

since the app is already live mikandi intends to alter it to comply with the new polices.
adult entertainment companies put google gl-ss technology in their sights aurora snow june 2, 2013

historical examples

for nothing can alter the fact that i have lived; i have been i, if for ever so short a time.
the journal of a disappointed man wilhelm nero pilate barbellion

“that is one of the habits i must alter in the children,” thought constance.
the channings mrs. henry wood

apologies only account for the evil which they cannot alter!
curiosities of literature, vol. ii (of 3) isaac disraeli

however much you may try to explain it, you cannot alter it.
the three cities trilogy, complete emile zola

“we’re taking you to get something to eat and where you can get a good night’s sleep,” alter answered.
captives of the flame samuel r. delany

verb
to make or become different in some respect; change
(transitive) (informal, mainly us) a euphemistic word for castrate, spay
adjective
(esp of vocal music) high in pitch
of or relating to the octave commencing with the g above the top line of the treble staff
noun
in alt, in the octave directly above the treble staff
v.

late 14c., “to change (something),” from old french alterer “change, alter,” from medieval latin alterare “to change,” from latin alter “the other (of the two),” from pie -al- “beyond” (see alias (adv.)) + comparative suffix -ter (cf. other). intransitive sense “to become otherwise” first recorded 1580s. related: altered; altering.

alt (ā’ěl-tē’)
n.
alanine aminotransferase; an enzyme in serum and body tissues that catalyzes the transfer of amino acid groups from l-alanine to 2-ketoglutarate or the reverse, thus allowing nitrogen to be excreted or incorporated into other compounds.
database
an sql data definition language command that adds or removes columns or indexes to/from a table or modifies the table definition in some other way. this differs from the insert, update and delete (data modification language) commands in that those change the data stored in the table but not its definition.
mysql alter table command (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/alter-table.html).
(2009-11-10)
alternate
alanine aminotransferase
alteration