practice

Pluralpractices (some meanings)

Formspractices, practicing, practiced

1. 1
   routinenoununcountable

   A customary or habitual action or way of doing things, including the regular carrying out of religious duties.

   Tipping servers is standard practice in many parts of the country.

   The company quietly revised its hiring practices last year.

   UsageCommon phrases: standard practice, common practice, it is good practice to check. Countable uses name particular customs or methods: religious practices, hiring practices.

   Similarcustom, habit, convention, procedure, tradition

   Note

   In engineering it can describe a national style of doing things. J. B. Snell, writing in Railway Magazine (1954), called New Zealand locomotive design "a curious blend of English and American practice." Among its synonyms, wont is the bookish one. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • J. B. Snell wrote in Railway Magazine in 1954. en.wiktionary.org
   • Snell described New Zealand locomotive design as a curious blend of English and American practice, using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   scheduled sessionnoununcountable

   Repeated doing of an activity to improve or keep up a skill, or a session held for this purpose.

   Band practice runs from four to six every Thursday.

   The coach canceled practice because of the storm.

   UsageUsually no article: go to practice, miss practice. A noun in front names it: band practice, choir practice.

   Similartraining, rehearsal, drill, exercise

   Note

   Here the repetition becomes a fixture on the calendar. The phrase works like the name of a regular appointment rather than a description of effort.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To do an activity repeatedly to improve one's skill at it, or to train others by having them do so.

   You should practice parallel parking before your driving test.

   He has been practicing his Spanish with a tutor twice a week.

   UsageFollowed by a noun or -ing: practice playing (not incorrect: practice to play). In British spelling the verb is usually practise.

   Similarrehearse, drill, train

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The actual doing or operation of something, in contrast to its theory.

   Many economic models work in theory but break down in practice.

   The gap between stated policy and everyday practice can be considerable.

   UsageUsually in the phrase in practice, often set against in theory: it works in theory, but in practice...

   Similarreality, application, action, operation, execution

   Oppositetheory

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A business or office through which a professional service is provided, such as a doctor's or lawyer's office.

   He sold his veterinary practice when he retired.

   Several small practices merged into one large clinic.

   Similarfirm, office, business, clinic, surgery

6. 6
   work (profession)verbtransitive

   To pursue a profession or career, especially in law, medicine, or the fine arts.

   After passing the bar exam, he practiced law in Chicago for a decade.

   Doctors who practice medicine in rural areas often cover huge distances.

   Note

   Here the verb names a working life rather than a drill: its object is the field itself, so one practices law, medicine or art across a career, as a lawyer might for forty years before retiring. The nouns follow the verb: the work itself is the doctor's practice, and so is the office where patients come.

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To perform or observe something regularly, as a matter of habit or custom.

   Few people in the village still practice the old harvest rituals.

   Fortune-telling was widely practiced in the back streets of the old port.

   UsageCommon with faiths and customs: practice a religion, a practicing Catholic, Muslim or Jew.

   Similarobserve, follow, perform

   Note

   The objects here are ways of life rather than skills: a religion, a rite, an old custom, even an occult art. Rollo Ahmed's The Black Art (1936) has hydromancy, divining by water, widely practiced by Egyptian priests and sorcerers. Unlike practicing to improve, nobody is getting better at anything; what matters is that the thing is kept up. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Rollo Ahmed wrote The Black Art, first published in 1936. openlibrary.org
   • Hydromancy is divination by water. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Black Art describes hydromancy as extensively practised by Egyptian priests and sorcerers. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   noununcountable

   The continued exercise of a profession or craft, most notably medicine or one of the fine arts.

   After residency, she devoted herself to the practice of pediatrics.

   His studio practice combined painting with digital media.

   UsageUsually the practice of law or medicine; artists also speak of my practice.

   Similarwork, pursuit

   Note

   Medicine and the arts both use the word for a working life rather than a single job. Doctors speak of the practice of pediatrics. Artists say my practice as an artist, as Raphael Vella's Artist-Teachers in Context (2016) does, to mean the continuing work itself. The word names the activity; the office or firm where a professional works is the business sense. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Artist-Teachers in Context is a book by Raphael Vella. link.springer.com
   • The book was first published in 2016; the publisher identifies this as edition 1. link.springer.com
   • The book contains the expression “my practice as an artist,” referring to continuing artistic work. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To put an idea, belief, or quality into action; to actually do or use it.

   Politicians rarely practice the honesty they demand of their opponents.

   The cruelty practiced on the prisoners shocked the inspectors.

   UsageSet phrase: practice what you preach. A harsh quality is practiced on someone: cruelty practiced on prisoners.

   Similarexercise, apply, follow

   Note

   Two kinds of object follow this verb: advice or a principle acted on, and a harsh quality turned on someone, with on or upon. Pope's Iliad sets practicing advice against neglecting it; Shakespeare's First Part of Henry the Sixth has severity practiced on nothing but Talbot's shadow. Cruelty practiced on prisoners keeps the second pattern alive today. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Alexander Pope translated the Iliad passage contrasting practising advice with rejecting it; Antenor speaks the lines. gutenberg.org
   • Shakespeare's First Part of Henry the Sixth contains Talbot's statement that the Countess has only his shadow upon which to practise her severity. shakespeare.mit.edu

Showing meanings only. Show all 13