best practice

American  

noun

Chiefly Business.

1. Often best practices a procedure or set of procedures that is preferred or considered standard within an organization, industry, etc..

   The company adopted best practice in employee recruitment.

   At the meeting we reviewed best practices for communicating with clients.

   Their methodology was identified as a best practice.

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best practice British  

noun

1. the recognized methods of correctly running businesses or providing services

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Etymology

Origin of best practice

First recorded in 1980–85; derived from an earlier (1905) sense “the best method, procedure, etc.”

Example Sentences

As well as sharing profits, domestic firms benefited from their overseas partners' shared technology and best practice.

From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026

"Schools that are effectively following best practice will be simulating incidents that require a lockdown situation and how that goes."

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

“We didn’t have examples of what best practice was,” said Amelia Vance, the president of the Public Interest Privacy Center, a nonprofit organization.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2026

"Any proposals must be driven by evidence and best practice, not lowest cost, and must strengthen rather than weaken frontline, investigative and specialist capability, neighbourhood policing and public confidence."

From BBC • Jan. 22, 2026

The best practice for transposing is to transpose a piece you know well into a new key.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones