practice
Americannoun
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practices
plural
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- application
-
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.
-
Archaic. Usually practices. intrigues; plots.
verb (used with object)
-
practices,
present (3rd person singular)
-
practiced,
past participle, past
-
practicing
present participle
-
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)
-
practices,
present (3rd person singular)
-
practiced,
past participle, past
-
practicing
present participle
-
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.
noun
-
a usual or customary action or proceeding
it 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 profession
he set up practice as a lawyer
-
the act of doing something
he put his plans into practice
-
the established method of conducting proceedings in a court of law
verb
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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mispracticenoun
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nonpracticenoun
-
practicernoun
-
prepracticeverb
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outpracticeverb (used with object)
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overpracticeverb (used with object)
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repracticeverb (used with object)
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
practicesimple
-
practicessimple
-
have practicedperfect
-
has practicedperfect
-
am practicingprogressive
-
are practicingprogressive
-
is practicingprogressive
-
have been practicingperfect progressive
-
has been practicingperfect progressive
Past
-
practicedsimple
-
had practicedperfect
-
was practicingprogressive
-
were practicingprogressive
-
had been practicingperfect progressive
Future
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.”
Vocabulary lists containing practice
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But Nacua returned to practice in a limited role on Wednesday and was listed as limited again on Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Space-based data centers could also be suited to special use cases, said Val Elbert, global leader of Boston Consulting Group’s technology, media and telecommunications practice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
That may sound fine in theory, but is almost certainly a terrible idea in practice.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
The longer term goal is to determine whether this strategy can prevent heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events more effectively than current practice.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
“Win or lose, the practice would be good for you.”
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Wildfires in Indonesia are blamed in large part on slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that result in the destruction of fire-resistant forest cover and the draining of peatlands.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
It is hoped it will "ease pressure on the River Gade which, like chalk streams nationally, has been put under stress by modern farming practices," the spokesperson added.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
A month’s worth of practices and five preseason games are the stage as players audition to fill the vacant roles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
Owens was in Indianapolis at the time for practices with his new team.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
She still practices her own version of spirituality, which she cobbled together from too many Deepak Chopra-esque books and TV shows.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Solmssen practiced law and maintained a second career as a writer, publishing five novels as well as nonfiction work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Employers have reported concerns in precisely those areas, though those skills can also be taught and practiced.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Nacua, who was sidelined for a few weeks during the preseason because of a psoas injury, caught five passes for 74 yards against the 49ers and practiced on Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
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
I never would have noticed if Sarah hadn’t practiced eyebrow waxing on me last summer.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
The earliest scientific accounts of elephants practicing "self-medication" date back to the early third century.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
After practicing law for about six months and finding the work boring, he moved to Los Angeles in 1996 to find a job in the music industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
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
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
Instead, it is more likely that of the roughly twenty-five million people living in the United States in the early 1850s, more than a million were practicing Spiritualism of some kind.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
