DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
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.
altering
n : the sterilization of an animal; "they took him to the vet
for neutering" [syn: neutering, fixing]