Of two things, such that only one can be selected or only one is possible, etc.; mutually exclusive.Affording a choice between two things, or a possibility of one thing out of two; given or offered for selection, as against something else: as, an alternative proposition; he presented an alternative statement.Alternate; reciprocal. Holland.In botany, having the parts of the inner whorl alternate with the outer: applied to the estivation or arrangement of the parts of the perianth in the bud.n. A choice between two things; a possibility of one of two things.n. One of two things of which either is possible or may be chosen.n. In the Roman Catholic Church, an arrangement by which the pope nominates to vacant benefices only in alternate months, at other times leaving the nomination to the bishop of the diocese or to the regular patron. The month counted is that in which the benefice becomes vacant.