practice

American  

[prak-tis] / ˈpræk tɪs /

British, practise

noun

• practices
  plural

1. habitual or customary performance; operation.

   office practice.

2. habit; custom.

   It is not the practice here for men to wear long hair.

3. repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency.

   Practice makes perfect.

   Synonyms:

   application

4. condition arrived at by experience or exercise.

   She refused to play the piano, because she was out of practice.

5. the action or process of performing or doing something.

   to put a scheme into practice;

   the shameful practices of a blackmailer.

6. the exercise or pursuit of a profession or occupation, especially law or medicine.

   She plans to set up practice in her hometown.

7. the business of a professional person.

   The doctor wanted his daughter to take over his practice when he retired.

8. Law. the established method of conducting legal proceedings.

9. Archaic. plotting; intrigue; trickery.

10. Archaic. Usually practices. intrigues; plots.

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verb (used with object)

• practices,
  present (3rd person singular)
• practiced,
  past participle,  past
• practicing
  present participle

1. to perform or do habitually or usually.

   to practice a strict regimen.

2. to follow or observe habitually or customarily.

   to practice one's religion.

3. to exercise or pursue as a profession, art, or occupation.

   to practice law.

4. to perform or do repeatedly in order to acquire skill or proficiency.

   to practice the violin.

5. to train or drill (a person, animal, etc.) in something in order to give proficiency.

verb (used without object)

• practices,
  present (3rd person singular)
• practiced,
  past participle,  past
• practicing
  present participle

1. to do something habitually or as a practice.

2. to pursue a profession, especially law or medicine.

3. to exercise oneself by repeated performance in order to acquire skill.

   to practice at shooting.

4. Archaic. to plot or conspire.

practice British  

/ ˈpræktɪs /

noun

1. a usual or customary action or proceeding

   it was his practice to rise at six

   he made a practice of stealing stamps

2. repetition or exercise of an activity in order to achieve mastery and fluency

3. the condition of having mastery of a skill or activity through repetition (esp in the phrases in practice, out of practice )

4. the exercise of a profession

   he set up practice as a lawyer

5. the act of doing something

   he put his plans into practice

6. the established method of conducting proceedings in a court of law

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verb

1. the US spelling of practise

practice Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing practice

• in practice
• make a practice of
• out of practice
• put into practice
• sharp practice

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Usage

What’s the difference between practice and practise? In British English (and many other international varieties of English), the spelling practice is used when the word is a noun, while the spelling practise is used when it’s a verb. In American English, the spelling practice is always used, regardless of whether the word is used as a verb or a noun. This is somewhat similar to the difference in spelling between advice (noun) and advise (verb)—a distinction that’s used in both British and American English. However, unlike advice and advise, practice and practise are always pronounced the same. Here is an example of how practice and practise would be used in the same sentence in British English. Example: Remember, practice makes perfect—the more you practise, the better you will get. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between practice and practise.

Synonym Usage

See custom. See exercise.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mispractice
  noun
• nonpractice
  noun
• practicer
  noun
• prepractice
  verb
• outpractice
  verb (used with object)
• overpractice
  verb (used with object)
• repractice
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• practices
  plural

Participles

• practicing
  present
• practiced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• practice
  simple
• practices
  simple
• have practiced
  perfect
• has practiced
  perfect
• am practicing
  progressive
• are practicing
  progressive
• is practicing
  progressive
• have been practicing
  perfect progressive
• has been practicing
  perfect progressive

Past

• practiced
  simple
• had practiced
  perfect
• was practicing
  progressive
• were practicing
  progressive
• had been practicing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will practice
  simple
• will have practiced
  perfect
• will be practicing
  progressive
• will have been practicing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of practice

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English verb practisen, practizen, from Middle French pra(c)tiser, from Medieval Latin prāctizāre, alteration of prācticāre, derivative of prāctica “practical work,” from Greek prāktikḗ, noun use of feminine of prāktikós; noun derivative of the verb; see practic ( def. ), -ize ( def. )

Explanation

Practice can be a noun or a verb, but either way it's about how things are done on a regular basis. You can practice shotput every day because your town has a practice of supporting track-and-field events. One can practice the tuba for hours on end, repeating the same song over and over, serving to both get better at the tuba and to convince the neighbors they should move to Florida. You could learn the common practice of offering a guest a beverage when they arrive at your party, if you care to be polite. One can also practice a profession or a religion, as in “I practice Buddhism and I have a booming international law practice.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

practice practices practiced practicing

While the way much of the region votes may negate this message, there exists a massive minority in Appalachia that has always felt this way — and continues to practice it.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026

It read: "Taking the law into one's own hands, especially when it involves public figures, is a reprehensible practice that prevents the IDF from focusing on its missions of combating terrorism and incitement to violence."

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Even in practice, Freeman’s competitiveness stood out to his new friend.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

This is how tariffs work in practice, and once in place they are difficult to repeal as lobbies form to defend them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Amy and Isaac Post were also abolitionists, passionate about ending the practice of slavery.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

The end of the summer practices for San Clemente involves jogging from campus 1.8 miles to the San Clemente Pier.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Announcing his support for the bill, which has broad support on the council, Mamdani said that it would help protect delivery workers and ensure companies are held accountable for their business practices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

He added that franchise-heavy chains often struggle because the hundreds to thousands of independent owners don’t always agree with corporate leadership on things like menu prices, labor practices, and operations standards.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

A ranking last year by US-Canadian campaign group Stand Earth placed Shein tied for last place on a list of over 40 major fashion brands in terms of their environmental practices.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

A compassionate, humane approach to the problems of the urban poor must replace the punitive practices and policies that have multiplied the harms associated with poverty and racial oppression.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Before joining Fox News as a contributor in 2018, Compagno practiced law in criminal defense and civil litigation and later served as a federal managing attorney and acting director at the Social Security Administration.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

He enslaved more than 100 people at Mount Vernon, and historians continue to grapple with the contradiction between the nation’s founding ideals and the human bondage practiced by its first president, among his strong mythology.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

But, unless you are a practiced safecracker, you can’t feel it cycling on and off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

I read a study years ago that fundamentally changed the way I thought about estate planning and how I practiced it as an attorney and, later, a wealth adviser.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

He said this with such a grave and practiced tone, the kind of voice accustomed to delivering bad news to people who are unaccustomed to accepting it.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

One group has started practicing parkour in a playground.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

A lot of times they were practicing lawyers, but mainly politicians.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

The gleeful melodies of the church choir practicing next door seeped in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

And part of the fun is meeting locals with similar interests and practicing speaking another language, whether that means going on dates or just making new friends.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

Then she divided them up into pairs to start practicing.

From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon

Related Words

• form
• habit
• method
• proceeding
• process
• rule
• system
• tradition
• use