alternate vs continue

alternate

verb
  • To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; followed by with. 

  • To vary by turns. 

  • To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly. 

  • To perform an alternation (removal of alternate vertices) on (a polytope or tessellation); to remove vertices (from a face or edge) as part of an alternation. 

adj
  • Other; alternative. 

  • Distributed singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence 

  • 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. 

  • Happening by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; first one and then the other (repeatedly) 

noun
  • A substitute; an alternative; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty. 

  • A replacement of equal or greater value or function. 

  • A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means. 

  • That which alternates with something else; vicissitude. 

  • Figures or tinctures that succeed each other by turns. 

continue

verb
  • To proceed with (doing an activity); to prolong (an activity). 

  • To make a continuation bet. 

  • To retain (someone or something) in a given state, position, etc. 

  • To remain in a given place or condition; to remain in connection with; to abide; to stay. 

  • To make last; to prolong. 

  • To resume. 

  • To adjourn, prorogue, put off. 

noun
  • An option allowing the player to resume play after game over, when all lives have been lost, while retaining their progress. 

How often have the words alternate and continue occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )