practice

[ prak-tis ]

/ ˈpræk tɪs /

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See synonyms for: practice / practiced / practices / practicing on Thesaurus.com

noun

habitual or customary performance; operation: office practice.

habit; custom: It is not the practice here for men to wear long hair.

repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency: Practice makes perfect.

condition arrived at by experience or exercise: She refused to play the piano, because she was out of practice.

the action or process of performing or doing something: to put a scheme into practice; the shameful practices of a blackmailer.

the exercise or pursuit of a profession or occupation, especially law or medicine: She plans to set up practice in her hometown.

the business of a professional person: The doctor wanted his daughter to take over his practice when he retired.

Law. the established method of conducting legal proceedings.

Archaic. plotting; intrigue; trickery.

Usually practices. Archaic. intrigues; plots.

verb (used with object), prac·ticed, prac·tic·ing.

to perform or do habitually or usually: to practice a strict regimen.

to follow or observe habitually or customarily: to practice one's religion.

to exercise or pursue as a profession, art, or occupation: to practice law.

to perform or do repeatedly in order to acquire skill or proficiency: to practice the violin.

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

verb (used without object), prac·ticed, prac·tic·ing.

to do something habitually or as a practice.

to pursue a profession, especially law or medicine.

to exercise oneself by repeated performance in order to acquire skill: to practice at shooting.

Archaic. to plot or conspire.

OTHER WORDS FOR practice

3 application.

See synonyms for practice on Thesaurus.com

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Also British, prac·tise (for defs. 11-19) .

Origin of practice

1375–1425; (v.) late Middle English practisen, practizen (<Middle French pra(c)tiser) <Medieval Latin prāctizāre, alteration of prācticāre, derivative of prāctica practical work <Greek prāktikḗ noun use of feminine of prāktikóspractic; see -ize; (noun) late Middle English, derivative of the v.

synonym study for practice

2. See custom. 3. See exercise.

OTHER WORDS FROM practice

prac·tic·er, nounmis·prac·tice, noun, verb, mis·prac·ticed, mis·prac·tic·ing.non·prac·tice, nounoutpractice, verb (used with object), out·prac·ticed, out·prac·tic·ing.

o·ver·prac·tice, verb (used with object), o·ver·prac·ticed, o·ver·prac·tic·ing.pre·prac·tice, verb, pre·prac·ticed, pre·prac·tic·ing.re·prac·tice, verb (used with object), re·prac·ticed, re·prac·tic·ing.

Words nearby practice

practicality, practical joke, practically, practical nurse, practical reason, practice, practiced, Practice makes perfect, practice-teach, Practice what you preach, practicing

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

PRACTICE VS. PRACTISE

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.

Quiz yourself on practice vs. practise!

True or False?

In American English, the spelling practice is used only for nouns.

How to use practice in a sentence

On the other hand, if global emissions drop, deforestation decreases, and better fire management practices are applied locally, fires may not increase as much.
What wildfires in Brazil, Siberia, and the US West have in common|Lili Pike|September 17, 2020|Vox
The only thing we receive are updates related to the Patrick Henry cheer program along with practice information that are signed by Patrick Henry Head Cheer Coach Jill Clark.
School Sports Became ‘Clubs’ Amid the Pandemic – Now Two Coaches Are Out|Ashly McGlone|September 17, 2020|Voice of San Diego
As confusing as the TikTok tie-up with Oracle may seem, there are precedents to the practice of having a “trusted” local partner manage parts of your business—look no further than China.
Want to understand the Oracle-TikTok deal? Just look at Apple in China|Jane Li|September 17, 2020|Quartz
The organization also did not respond when asked if it had investigated or planned to investigate potential racial disparities in discharge practices.
The Hospital System Sent Patients With Coronavirus Home to Die. Louisiana Legislators Are Demanding an Investigation.|by Annie Waldman and Joshua Kaplan|September 14, 2020|ProPublica

Hardly any states followed the practices that had worked well elsewhere.
America Is About to Lose Its 200,000th Life to Coronavirus. How Many More Have to Die?|by Stephen Engelberg|September 14, 2020|ProPublica
As a means of preventing tooth decay in those cities that do fluoridate, the practice certainly looks like a success.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Back in New York, the slow pace and inward focus of her yoga practice was less fulfilling.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The men use the dolls to practice the basics of caring for babies.
How Good Dads Can Change the World|Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But in 1969, a longstanding practice was challenged—its ban on women.
The Bars That Made America Great|Nina Strochlic|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
DeCrow would come to lead a movement against this practice, suing the Hotel Syracuse in 1969 and calling for protests and sit-ins.
The Bars That Made America Great|Nina Strochlic|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Many so-called "humming tones" are given for practice, but in accepting them observe whether the foregoing principle is obeyed.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
Selections for practice should be chosen which contain much variety of thought and feeling and are smooth in movement.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
In connection with this step the practice of melodies is useful, if one has musical taste.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
In practice we find a good deal of technical study comes into the college stage.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
It is clear, therefore, that the reserve reduction contemplated by the act will not be realized in practice.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips

British Dictionary definitions for practice

practice

/ (ˈpræktɪs) /

noun

a usual or customary action or proceedingit was his practice to rise at six; he made a practice of stealing stamps

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

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

the exercise of a professionhe set up practice as a lawyer

the act of doing somethinghe put his plans into practice

the established method of conducting proceedings in a court of law

verb

the US spelling of practise

Word Origin for practice

C16: from Medieval Latin practicāre to practise, from Greek praktikē practical science, practical work, from prattein to do, act

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with practice

practice

In addition to the idioms beginning with practice

practice makes perfect
practice what you preach

also see:

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

practice

OTHER WORDS FOR practice

Origin of practice

synonym study for practice

OTHER WORDS FROM practice

Words nearby practice

PRACTICE VS. PRACTISE

What’s the difference between practice and practise?

Quiz yourself on practice vs. practise!

Words related to practice

How to use practice in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for practice

Word Origin for practice

Other Idioms and Phrases with practice