What's the difference between alter and falter?

Alter


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either partially or wholly; to vary; to modify.
  • (v. t.) To agitate; to affect mentally.
  • (v. t.) To geld.
  • (v. i.) To become, in some respects, different; to vary; to change; as, the weather alters almost daily; rocks or minerals alter by exposure.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Herpesviruses such as EBV, HSV, and human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) have a marked tropism for cells of the immune system and therefore infection by these viruses may result in alterations of immune functions, leading at times to a state of immunosuppression.
  • (2) The process of sequence rearrangement appears to be a significant part of the evolution of the genome and may have a much greater effect on the evolution of the phenotype than sequence alteration by base substitution.
  • (3) The various evocational changes appear to form sets of interconnected systems and this complex network seems to embody some plasticity since it has been possible to suppress experimentally some of the most universal evocational events or alter their temporal order without impairing evocation itself.
  • (4) When chimeric animals were subjected to a lethal challenge of endotoxin, their response was markedly altered by the transferred lymphoid cells.
  • (5) Morphological alterations in the lungs of pheasants after prolonged high-dosage administration of bleomycin sulfate were studied by light and electron microscopy.
  • (6) Incubation with IFN alpha or IFN gamma for 24 h resulted in only modest cytokinetic alterations, and they did not modify the effects of FUra.
  • (7) We report a series of experiments designed to determine if agents and conditions that have been reported to alter sodium reabsorption, Na-K-ATPase activity or cellular structure in the rat distal nephron might also regulate the density or affinity of binding of 3H-metolazone to the putative thiazide receptor in the distal nephron.
  • (8) In dorsoventral (DV) reversed wings at both shoulder or flank level, the motor axons do not alter their course as they enter the graft.
  • (9) Neither spermidine nor spermine (0.5 mM) significantly altered [Ca2+]i.
  • (10) In addition to the changes associated with blood group A, we also found a decrease in sugar content, alterations in other antigens, and changes in the levels of several glycosyltransferases in cancerous tissues.
  • (11) When the concentration of thrombin or fibrinogen was altered systematically, mu T and mup were found to mirror each other except when the fibrinogen concentration was increased at low thrombin concentrations.
  • (12) Arteries treated with atrial natriuretic peptide showed no alterations in relaxation or cGMP content after incubation with pertussis toxin.
  • (13) These results could be explained by altered tissue blood flow and a decreased metabolic capacity of the liver in obese subjects.
  • (14) The sequential histopathologic alterations in femorotibial joints of partial meniscectomized male and female guinea pigs were evaluated at 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 weeks post-surgery.
  • (15) However, survival was closely related to the severity of the illness at the time of randomization and was not altered by shunting.
  • (16) Brain damage may be followed by a number of dynamic events including reactive synaptogenesis, rerouting of axons to unusual locations and altered axon retraction processes.
  • (17) Since the advance and return of sperm inside the tubes could facilitate the interaction of sperm with secretions participating in its maturation, the persistent infertility after vasectomy could be related to the contractile alteration that follows the excessive tubal distention.
  • (18) Sixteen patients (27%) manifested anomalies of the urinary tract: 12 had markedly altered kidneys, 8 of which were unilateral and ipsilateral to the diaphragmatic defect.
  • (19) Corticosterone (4 x 10(-5) M) did not alter the stimulation-evoked 3H-overflow at 1-30 Hz.
  • (20) The results show that the presence of histones does not alter the bimodal DNA binding process.

Falter


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
  • (v. & n.) To hesitate; to speak brokenly or weakly; to stammer; as, his tongue falters.
  • (v. & n.) To tremble; to totter; to be unsteady.
  • (v. & n.) To hesitate in purpose or action.
  • (v. & n.) To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; -- said of the mind or of thought.
  • (v. t.) To utter with hesitation, or in a broken, trembling, or weak manner.
  • (v. i.) Hesitation; trembling; feebleness; an uncertain or broken sound; as, a slight falter in her voice.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The compromised ice sheet tilts and he sinks into the Arctic Sea on the back of his faltering white Icelandic pony.
  • (2) When you have champions of financial rectitude such as the International Monetary Fund and OECD warning of the international risk of an "explosion of social unrest" and arguing for a new fiscal stimulus if growth continues to falter, it's hardly surprising that tensions in the cabinet over next month's spending review are spilling over.
  • (3) The use of a more 'appropriate' growth curve of exclusively breast-fed, healthy infants instead of the NCHS reference failed to define more accurately the age at which growth faltering starts.
  • (4) Playboy's globally recognisable "bunny ears" image remains untarnished by economic factors, but its business has faltered amid a rise in free adult entertainment online.
  • (5) The main symptom "incoordination" (ataxia, asynergy, paresis, paralysis) is used by us more precisely only in case of impairment of nervous system by neoplastic infiltrations and does not signify as possible symptoms of general physical weakness, for example faltering, staggering, tumbling or lameness.
  • (6) Against the backdrop of a faltering global economy, turmoil in the country’s stock markets and overcapacity in factories, Chinese economic growth has slowed markedly.
  • (7) Kerry flew into the Afghan capital in an attempt to salvage the faltering political and technical agreements that he had brokered between Ghani and his presidential rival, Abdullah Abdullah .
  • (8) Some people believe that it just works but the reality is that the online buyer-seller relationship can falter at any one of a number of hurdles.
  • (9) It is the liberal drive, with its obsessive seeking of a universal position, that ultimately obscures the violence taking place in this faltering dialogue.
  • (10) With China a key driving force behind already faltering global growth, its relations with the new US president will come into sharp focus.
  • (11) The dismal numbers followed a series of factory surveys since the start of 2014 that have pointed to weakness in economic activity as demand has faltered at home and abroad.
  • (12) Yet, “if the expansion was to falter or if inflation was to remain stubbornly low, the [Fed] would be able to provide only a modest degree of additional stimulus by cutting the federal funds rate back to near zero”.
  • (13) The clinical picture of repeated infection causing growth faltering followed by oedema, hair and skin changes, resembled the response to infection of many nutritionally stressed children in the tropical world.
  • (14) The median time for faltering in exclusively fed infants in Jordan was 6 months.
  • (15) When markets falter and banks fail it's the jobs and the homes and the security of the squeezed middle that are hit the hardest.
  • (16) The relationship between the prevalence of nine different categories of diseases and growth was investigated to determine the quantitative contribution of the diseases to the growth faltering observed.
  • (17) Xi has brushed aside concerns about his country’s faltering economy, telling an audience of business leaders in London that it would remain the powerhouse of the global economy.
  • (18) While the patient is undergoing evaluation of pelvic pain, it is essential that clinicians remain aware that the patient's psychogenic symptoms are an attempt to reinforce a faltering ego.
  • (19) Next on his list would be the faltering economy, social justice and reinforcing freedom and democracy.
  • (20) The welfare cap is lined up, as the bedroom tax continues and disability benefits falter.