alt

noun

1. (uncountable)Of a voice or instrument, high pitch; especially, the octave above the top line of the treble stave.

   “Sop[hy] Moderato! moderato! Madam. Your Ladyship's absolutely in alt. / L[ady] Scr[ape] In alt! Madam? / Sop[hy] Yes, in alt- Give me leave to tell your Ladyship, that you have raised your voice a full octave higher since you came into the room.”

   “The duet was in alt; one stormed, the other half crying, half scolding, made up in volubility what her aunt possessed in authority, and it was not 'till Lady Meredith had twice raised her mild voice, either party could be silenced.”

   “And he began, — "Poor insect! born to flutter and to die;" — falling into the second, directly Helen took the first, till he got down to such unreasonable bass that he suddenly gave a shriek in alt that made Olga stop her ears.”

2. (archaic, uncountable)A state of excitement, a heightened emotional condition.

   “I was, however, glad at my heart, that Mrs. Moore came up so seasonably with notice, that dinner was ready. The fair fugitive was all in alt. She had the game in her own hands; and by giving me so good an excuse for withdrawing, I had time to strengthen myself; the Captain had time to come; and the Lady to cool.”

   “"Not," added she, as her eyes glittered with anger, and she sidled near the door for an exit—" not but, in the estimation of others, you may be quite an Adonis—a young gentleman of wit and fashion —a beau of the first water; I have no doubt Mary Jane thinks so— you old wretch!" This, in alt, and a bang of the door that brought down an oil picture that hung over it, closed the scene.”

   “He had no wish to pry or listen; but if people would talk in alt, whilst he moved, like a mole, about his business, family matters would cleave the ear which, however it tried, could not be deaf.”

   “That lady was in alt at Loxsleigh's high station and had spent the morning making inquiries of her friends, which also allowed her to spread the word about her interesting new acquaintance.”

3. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping)Clipping of altitude.
4. (Internet)An alternate or secondary account.

   “Of these alts, how many of them are a gender other than your own?”

   “Yes, I have many alts, and no, none of the others have any unusual capitalisation.”

5. (Internet)An alternate account.

   “You've been here four days and you already know about the incident from last year? You're such an obvious alt.”

6. An alternative investment or alternative fund.

   “liquid alts”

7. (Internet)An alternate version of a piece of art, especially without much changes beyond a specific thing.
8. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of alt text.
9. Synonym of altbier.

   “Top-fermenting ales are still brewed, notably the alts of Düsseldorf and kölsches of Cologne.”

   “On average, the mash temperatures used in the NHC second-round alts and kölschs were higher, at 153 °F (67 °C) and 151 °F (66 °C) respectively.”

   “In the last two days I have drunk 10 different beers in each city and feel the Kölsches were within a narrower flavor profile, being relatively similar to each other, whereas Alts had more range of aroma and flavor.”

   “Ale yeasts are often described as top fermenting, but top cropping would probably be a better description: the yeast ferments at all levels throughout the liquid, but once its work is done it collects at the top of the fermenting vessel (traditionally these vessels would have been open at the top). Family members include bitters, porters, stouts, alts and kölschs.”

10. A modifier key used to change (alternate) the function of other pressed keys.
11. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of alanine transaminase.

    “Furthermore, wedelolactone also increased the activities of superoxidase dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and decreased the level of the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver, therefore decreasing the activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT).”

adj

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, not-comparable)Clipping of alternate.

   “alt key”

   “[…]Adele, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Frank Ocean, Drake, and Ed Sheeran are among many artists who don't appear to spend a lot of time online (or if they do, it's using alt accounts).”

2. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, not-comparable)Clipping of alternative, especially as a cultural phenomenon seen as being outside the mainstream of its genre.

   “alt medicine”

   “alt text”

   “Fearn is thoughtful and deeply alt (“I’ve always been an oddball”), less demonstrative but more confident.”

verb

1. (Internet, intransitive)To use an alternate or secondary account.

   “I got banned so I'm alting.”

name

1. A river in West Lancashire and Merseyside, England that flows into the Irish Sea; in full, the River Alt.