Alternate
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Being or succeeding by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; by turns first one and then the other; hence, reciprocal. Designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second. Other or alternative. Distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence. --Gray.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: That which alternates with something else; vicissitude. A substitute; an alternative; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty. A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means. A replacement of equal or greater value or function. Figures or tinctures that succeed each other by turns.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly. To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time;—followed by with. To vary by turns.
Example sentence: Time is our ultimate scarcity. Isaac Newton can give us more electricity, but he can't give us more than 24 hours of the day of time. And so we're constantly having to sacrifice alternate activities to get the one that pleases us most.
Cyclical
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: recurring at regular intervals
Example sentence: What if the slowdown in merger activity isn't cyclical, but secular? What if corporations have learned the lessons of so many companies before them that the odds of a successful merger are no better than 50-50 and probably less? Is it possible that the biggest deals have already been done?