All 4 Uses

alternative
in
She Said Yes
(Edited)

I told them they had two alternatives: either you lock her in the house and cut the phone cords and all that till things are going in the right direction again, or you let things slide—hang in there till she's an adult and hope she survives.
p. 63.1

alternatives = possibilities
Actually, we had told her from the start that we were willing to give her other options if she was going to refuse to live with us, and we offered her several alternatives.
p. 75.1 *

alternatives = other possibilities
Jamie had a short, bleached-blond haircut, and big chains and metal beads around her neck, and she was wearing the sort of grungy attire that alternative types buy from places like Goodwill.
p. 82.3

alternative = non-traditional
There were these Goth types, and a lot of kids who dressed like punk rockers, you know, alternative types with weird hair.
p. 90.5 *

Definitions:

(1) (alternative as in: an alternative plan)
a different choice or possibility, or describing something that offers a different choice or possibility
(2) (alternative as in: alternative medicine)
non-traditional or non-standard
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)