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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

Law students educated in this way will be grounded in ethical and principled reasoning and adept at navigating an era when AI tools stand to shape changes in the practice of their profession.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

In practice, however, hardly anyone wants to use it.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

At an international or state level, there are regulations in place, but putting them into practice in a timely fashion is difficult enough - and often there isn't even the will to attempt this.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

He practiced Thursday, but did not practice Friday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Not even the practice simulations I’d done with Regan where the worst-case scenario was that one of us would get annoyed and use our Chaos Cuffs to exit the situation, and then it hit me.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

At some firms, aging partners who work well into their 80s are blocking younger talent from leading practices and securing major cases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Nacua, an All-Pro who led the NFL in receptions last season, was sidelined for a few weeks of preseason practices because of a psoas injury.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

These companies are exploring experimental architectures that could challenge the industry’s current training practices.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

The Bishop of Leicester raised in the House of Lords his concern "about the lack of clarity on the difference between harmful conversion practices and perfectly acceptable practices of pastoral care and indeed prayer".

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

These practices Julius not only continued but also increased, and he planned to capture Bologna, to wipe out the Venetians, and to drive the French out of Italy.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Together, the chemical evidence and distinctive tooth damage suggest that hunter-gatherers in Sulawesi practiced habitual betel nut sucking over long periods, leaving striking physical changes in their teeth.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

For the last few weeks, the Rams have practiced in the late afternoon, which aligns body clock-wise with their impending morning kickoff in Melbourne.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

This led to a long, profitable, well-publicized run as a familiar New York character: the courthouse fixer, connoisseur of the high life, agent of influence and lawyer who largely practiced law on the telephone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

And as skilled as she was at this repartee, it never came off overly practiced.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

The people of the Philippines practiced diverse religions at the time.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Much of my life is dedicated to preaching that art, and practicing reverence for it can be the glue that keeps us together when the world wants us torn apart.

From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026

Said Harbaugh: “Have to get things to get better, for sure. You know, better job coaching, better job practicing, better job executing. All those things need to be elevated.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

When he began practicing urology in the 1980s, the common misunderstanding was that testosterone injections caused prostate cancer, further suppressing research and treatment of testosterone deficiency.

From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026

When Cameron isn’t practicing his moves with pro partner Sharna Burgess, the “Bachelorette” alum has a very personal real estate project to retreat to: his extensively renovated home in Jupiter, Fla.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

“Did you hear me practicing my trumpet last night?” he asked.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Related Words

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