| a. | 1. | Offering a choice of two things. |
| 2. | Disjunctive; | |
| 3. | Alternate; reciprocal. | |
| n. | 1. | An offer of two things, one of which may be chosen, but not both; a choice between two things, so that if one is taken, the other must be left. |
| 2. | Either of two things or propositions offered to one's choice. Thus when two things offer a choice of one only, the two things are called alternatives. | |
| 3. | The course of action or the thing offered in place of another. | |
| 4. | A choice between more than two things; one of several things offered to choose among. |
| Noun | 1. | alternative - one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen; "what option did I have?"; "there no other alternative"; "my only choice is to refuse" |
| Adj. | 1. | alternative - allowing a choice; "an alternative plan" Synonyms: alternate |
| 2. | alternative - necessitating a choice between mutually exclusive possibilities; "`either' and `or' in `either this or that'" Synonyms: mutually exclusive | |
| 3. | alternative - pertaining to unconventional choices; "an alternative life style" |
ALTERNATIVE. The one or the other of two things. In contracts a party has frequently the choice to perform one of several things, as, if he is bound to pay one hundred dollars, or to deliver a horse, he has the alternative. Vide Election; Obligation; Alternative.
LEGACY, ALTERNATIVE. One where the testator gives one of two things to the legatee without designating which of them; as, one of my two horses. Vide Election.
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