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in alt, in the first octave above the treble staff.
variant of before a vowel:
altazimuth.
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either of two keys on a PC keyboard that is held down while pressing another key, as to perform a specific operation or type a special character.
Contemporary Examples

Both present alt cert in general—and TFA in particular—as a problem, as a project that urgently needs fixing.
Stop Scapegoating Teach for America Conor P. Williams September 23, 2014

Admittedly, the quality of alt cert programs varies quite a bit.
Stop Scapegoating Teach for America Conor P. Williams September 23, 2014

But many conventional doctors are also fed up and are jumping on the “alt med” bandwagon.
Clinton Doc: This Is How We’ll Fix Health Care Daniela Drake June 11, 2014

alt cert critics often argue that there are flaws in the methodology of some of these studies.
Stop Scapegoating Teach for America Conor P. Williams September 23, 2014

But for every stolen art cache that was found, from Merkers to alt Aussee, there are scores that remain undiscovered.
Nazi Art Hoard Just the Tip of the Iceberg for Lost Art Noah Charney November 12, 2013

Historical Examples

“I wonder what the craven loon will do with her when he gets her,” said alt Pikker.
Joan of the Sword Hand S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett

“You whistled the octave of B. in alt,” remarked Edith appreciatively.
Dodo’s Daughter E. F. Benson

She could reach with ease F in alt, and showed to advantage in such operas as “Zauberflte.”
Famous Singers of To-day and Yesterday Henry C. Lahee

But you suggest that alt and Schickel have been on bad terms?
The Crime Doctor Ernest William Hornung

In time, with great care, the majority of the notes will come back, but probably C in alt.
The Mechanism of the Human Voice Emil Behnke

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

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.
character
/awlt/ 1. The alt modifier key on many keyboards, including the IBM PC. On some keyboards and operating systems, (but not the IBM PC) the alt key sets bit 7 of the character generated.
See bucky bits.
2. The “clover” or “Command” key on a Macintosh; use of this term usually reveals that the speaker hacked PCs before coming to the Mac (see also feature key). Some Mac hackers, confusingly, reserve “alt” for the Option key (and it is so labelled on some Mac II keyboards).
3. (Obsolete PDP-10; often “ALT”) An alternate name for the ASCII ESC character (Escape, ASCII 27), after the keycap labelling on some older terminals; also “altmode” (/awlt’mohd/). This character was almost never pronounced “escape” on an ITS system, in TECO or under TOPS-10, always alt, as in “Type alt alt to end a TECO command” or “alt-U onto the system” (for “log onto the [ITS] system”). This usage probably arose because alt is easier to say.
4. One of the Usenet newsgroup hierarchies. It was founded by John Gilmore and Brian Reid. The alt hierarchy is special in that anyone can create new groups here without going though the normal voting proceduers, hence the regular appearence of new groups with names such as “alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork”.
[Jargon File]
(1997-04-12)
alternate
alanine aminotransferase
alteration
altered
alternate
altitude
alto