Sample sentences for ALTERNATIVE

2 meanings

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1 —as in:
an alternative plan

Definition

something available as another possibility

alternatives = possibilities

Other Uses (with this meaning)

alternative = something available as another possibility

alternatively = as another possibility

I spent that day mostly in the woods, having the alternative before me,—to go home and be whipped to death, or stay in the woods and be starved to death.
Frederick Douglass -- The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

alternative = something available as a possibility

You gave me two alternatives that you could live with, and I chose the one that I could live with. That's how compromise is supposed to work.
Stephenie Meyer -- Eclipse

alternatives = different possibilities

During the peak of the Vietnam War, he volunteered for the Army in logistics as an alternative to being drafted and sent to the front lines like many of his friends.
Wes Moore -- The Other Wes Moore

alternative = other possibility

There is no alternative, I assure you.
Arthur Conan Doyle -- The Hound of the Baskervilles

alternative = other possibility

alternative = only other possibility

alternatives = other possibilities

Phrase alternatives as questions: Instead of "I think we should do A, not B," try "What if we did A, instead of B?"
Randy Pausch -- The Last Lecture

alternatives = other possibilities

2 —as in:
alternative medicine

Definition

non-traditional or non-standard

I'm taking the pills the doctor prescribed, but I'm also looking into alternative medicine such as acupuncture.

alternative = non-traditional or non-standard

Other Uses (with this meaning)

alternative = non-standard

The Fountain School was an "alternative learning space," also known as the Hippie School.
Sarah Dessen -- Just Listen

alternative = non-traditional or non-standard

"That is your earpiece. I will give you exactly one more chance to wear it. If you remove it from your ear again, I'll have you fitted with this." He holds up some sort of metal headgear that I instantly name the head shackle. "It's an alternative audio unit that locks around your skull and under your chin until it's opened with a key."
Suzanne Collins -- Mockingjay

alternative = non-standard

Unlike me, she cared about the myriad pop musical distinctions: punk, indie, alternative, hard-core, emo-core.
Gayle Forman -- If I Stay

alternative = non-standard

He hopes his flight, like that of the character in the title, toward asylum (Canada, or freedom, or the company of the welcoming dead), or home, is interpreted as a radical gesture demanding change, an alternative way, a cessation of things as they are.
Toni Morrison -- Song of Solomon

alternative = non-standard or non-traditional

So when is this loose-rock-original-songs-somewhat-jokey-but-solidly-alternative band playing?
Sarah Dessen -- Just Listen
They're more kind of a loose rock, original songs, somewhat jokey but solidly alternative.
Sarah Dessen -- Just Listen
Sophie, for her part, preferred jocks and clean-cut types and hated anyone even slightly alternative.
Sarah Dessen -- Just Listen

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