Dictionary Definition
practice
Noun
1 a customary way of operation or behavior; "it
is their practice to give annual raises"; "they changed their
dietary pattern" [syn: pattern]
2 systematic training by multiple repetitions;
"practice makes perfect" [syn: exercise, drill, practice
session, recitation]
3 translating an idea into action; "a hard theory
to put into practice"; "differences between theory and praxis of
communism" [syn: praxis]
4 the exercise of a profession; "the practice of
the law"; "I took over his practice when he retired"
5 knowledge of how something is usually done; "it
is not the local practice to wear shorts to dinner"
Verb
1 learn by repetition; "We drilled French verbs
every day"; "Pianists practice scales" [syn: drill, exercise, practise]
2 avail oneself to; "apply a principle";
"practice a religion"; "use care when going down the stairs"; "use
your common sense"; "practice non-violent resistance" [syn:
apply, use]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Alternative spellings
- (Commonwealth) practise (used only for the verb)
Etymology
See practise.Pronunciation
Noun
- Repetition of an
activity to improve skill.
- He will need lots of practice with those lines before he performs them.
- The ongoing pursuit of a craft or profession, particularly in
medicine or the fine arts.
- She ran a thriving medical practice.
- The observance of religious duties which a Church requires of its members.
- A customary
action, habit, or behavior; a manner or routine.
- It is the usual practice of employees there to wear neckties
only when meeting with customers.
- It is good practice to check each door and window before leaving.
- It is the usual practice of employees there to wear neckties
only when meeting with customers.
Synonyms
Usage notes
British and Australian English distinguish between practice (a noun) and practise (a verb), analogously with advice/advise. In American English, practice is commonly used for both forms. Canadian English works with both systems.Translations
repetition of an activity to improve skill
- Arabic:
- Chinese: 练习 (liànxí)
- Dutch: praktijk, ,
- Finnish: harjoitus, harjoittelu
- French: pratique
- German: Übung , Üben
- Greek: εξάσκηση (exáskisi)
- Hungarian: gyakorlat
- Italian: pratica
- Japanese: 練習 (れんしゅう, renshū)
- Korean: 연습 (yeonseup)
- Portuguese: prática
- Romanian: practică , aplicare
- Russian: практика
- Spanish: práctica
- Swedish: praktik
an ongoing pursuit of a craft or profession
- Dutch: ,
- German: Ausübung , Ausüben , Praktizieren , Praxis
- Japanese: 業務 (gyōmu)
customary action, habit, or behavior
Derived terms
Verb
- transitive US To repeat (an
activity) as a way of improving one's skill in that activity.
- You should practice playing piano every day.
- intransitive US To repeat an activity
in this way.
- If you want to speak French well, you need to practice.
- transitive US To perform or
observe in a habitual fashion.
- They gather to practice religion every Saturday.
- transitive US To pursue (a career, especially law, fine art or
medicine).
- She practiced law for forty years before retiring.
- To conspire.
- alternative spelling of practise
Usage notes
- In sense "to repeat an activity as a way improving one's skill" this is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Derived terms
Translations
(US) To repeat an activity as a way of improving
one's skill
- Finnish: harjoitella
- German: üben
- Greek: Sport: προπονούμαι (proponoúmai); Music:μελετáω (meletáo)
- Portuguese: praticar
To perform or execute a craft or skill
- Dutch: beoefen
- Finnish: harjoittaa
- German: ausüben, praktizieren
- Greek: ασκώ το επάγγελμα (askó to epángelma)
- Portuguese: praticar
Extensive Definition
Practice or Practise may refer to:
- Practice (learning method), a method of learning by repetition
- Standards & Practices, a conventional, traditional, or otherwise standardised method
- Practice of law
- Law firm, a legal practice
- Medical practice, a company which engages in the practice of medicine
- The Practice, a TV programme about a legal practice
- Target practice, any exercise in which projectiles are fired at a specified target
- Phantom practice, phenomenon in which a person's abilities continue to improve, even without practicing
- Practice-based professional learning
- Best practice
See also
practice in German: Praxis
practice in Russian: Практика
practice in Simple English: Practice
practice in Slovak: Prax
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Gedankenexperiment,
MO, accordance, acquittal, acquittance, act, acting, action, actions, activism, activity, acts, actually, addition, address, adherence, affectation, agency, air, algorithm, application, apprentice, apprenticeship, approach, approximation, art, assay, athletics, attack, audition, automatism, background, bad habit, basic
training, battologize, be about, be
doing, be engaged in, be occupied with, be responsible for,
bearing, behave, behavior, behavior pattern,
behavioral norm, behavioral science, bench test, blaseness, bon ton, bone, boning, brainwork, break, break in, breaking, breather, breed, breeding, bring to test, bring
up, business, cabal, calisthenics, calling, care, career, career building, careerism, carriage, carry into execution,
carry on, carry out, carry through, carrying out, ceremonial, ceremony, characteristic, compliance, comportment, con, condition, conditioning, conduct, confirm, conformance, conformity, conning, conspiracy, constitutional, consuetude, contemplate, contemplation, convenance, convention, course, covin, craft, cram, cramming, creature of habit,
cultivate, cultivation, culture
pattern, custom, cut and
try, daily dozen, deal with, demeanor, deportment, develop, development, differentiation,
dig, direct, direction, discharge, discipline, division, do, do with, doing, doings, drill, drilling, drive, driving, dry run, duty, elucubrate, employ, employment, engage in,
engrossment,
equation, essay, established way, etiquette, evolution, examine, execute, execution, exercise, exercising, exert, experience, experiment, extensive study,
extrapolation,
fashion, fetch up,
fetching-up, fill, fit, flight test, folkway, follow, force of habit, form, form of worship, formality, formula, formulary, foster, fostering, fulfill, fulfillment, function, functioning, game, gestures, give a try, give a
tryout, give an encore, go in for, go over, go through, goings-on,
grind, grinding, groom, grooming, guise, gymnastic exercises,
gymnastics, habit, habit pattern, habitude, handicraft, handle, handling, have a go, headwork, hearing, heed, heeding, holy rite, house-train,
housebreak, housebreaking, improve, improvement, in practice,
in-service training, inexperienced, inspection, institution, integration, interpolation, intrigue, inversion, involution, isometrics, iterate, keeping, lick into shape,
lifework, line, line of action, line of
business, line of work, lines, liturgy, lucubrate, lucubration, machination, maintien, make, make go, make use of,
manage, management, maneuver, manipulate, manipulation, manner, manner of working,
manners, manual
training, means, mental
labor, method, methodology, methods, metier, mien, military training, mission, mode, mode of operation, mode of
procedure, mode of worship, modus operandi, modus vivendi, mores, motions, move, movements, moves, multiplication, mystery, notation, number, nurse, nurture, nurturing, observable
behavior, observance,
observation,
occupation, office, on-the-job training,
operancy, operate, operation, operations, order, order of worship, ordinance, pad, past experience, pattern, peculiarity, perform, perform on, performance, performing, perusal, peruse, physical education,
physical jerks, pilot,
pilot plan, play, play
around with, plunge into, ply, poise, pore over, port, pose, posture, practical knowledge,
practical test, practically, practice upon,
praxis, preparation, prepare, prescribed form,
prescription,
presence, procedure, proceed, proceeding, process, profession, proper thing,
proportion, prosecute, prove, pursue, pursuit, put in tune, put to
school, put to trial, racket, raise, raising, read, reading, ready, readying, reaffirm, realistically, rear, rearing, reassert, recapitulate, recite, recount, reduction, regard studiously,
rehash, rehearsal, rehearse, reissue, reiterate, repeat, repetition, reprint, research, respect, responsibility, restate, restudy, restudying, resume, retail, retell, review, reword, rite, ritual, ritual observance,
rituality, road test,
road-test, routine,
rule, run, run a sample, run over, run
through, running,
rusty, sacrament, sacramental, sagacity, sample, satisfaction, say over, say
over again, scheme,
seasoning, second
nature, see to, send to school, serve, service, setting-up exercises,
shake down, shakedown,
shakedown cruise, sloyd,
social convention, social science, solemnity, sophistication, specialization,
specialize in, specialty, standard behavior,
standard usage, standing custom, steer, steering, stereotype, stereotyped
behavior, stretch,
study, studying, style, subject, substantiate, subtraction, sum up,
summarize, swing, swot, swotting, system, tackle, tactics, take care of, take in
hand, take on, take to, take up, taste, tautologize, technic, technique, tempering, test, test flight, test run, the
drill, the how, the way of, time-honored practice, tone, trade, tradition, train, training, transformation, trial
run, trick, try, try it on, try out, tryout, unaccustomed, undertake, upbringing, usage, use, usefulness, utility, utilize, validate, verify, vet, vocation, vocational education,
vocational training, wade through, wage, walk, walk of life, warm-up,
way, way of life, ways, what is done, wide reading,
wield, wise, wont, wonting, work, work at, working, workings, workout, worldly wisdom,
yoga