practice
Americannoun
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habitual or customary performance; operation.
office practice.
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habit; custom.
It is not the practice here for men to wear long hair.
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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.
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the action or process of performing or doing something.
to put a scheme into practice;
the shameful practices of a blackmailer.
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the exercise or pursuit of a profession or occupation, especially law or medicine.
She plans to set up practice in her hometown.
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the business of a professional person.
The doctor wanted his daughter to take over his practice when he retired.
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Law. the established method of conducting legal proceedings.
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Archaic. plotting; intrigue; trickery.
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Archaic. Usually practices. intrigues; plots.
verb (used with object)
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to perform or do habitually or usually.
to practice a strict regimen.
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to follow or observe habitually or customarily.
to practice one's religion.
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to exercise or pursue as a profession, art, or occupation.
to practice law.
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to perform or do repeatedly in order to acquire skill or proficiency.
to practice the violin.
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to train or drill (a person, animal, etc.) in something in order to give proficiency.
verb (used without object)
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to do something habitually or as a practice.
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to pursue a profession, especially law or medicine.
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to exercise oneself by repeated performance in order to acquire skill.
to practice at shooting.
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Archaic. to plot or conspire.
noun
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a usual or customary action or proceeding
it was his practice to rise at six
he made a practice of stealing stamps
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repetition or exercise of an activity in order to achieve mastery and fluency
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the condition of having mastery of a skill or activity through repetition (esp in the phrases in practice, out of practice )
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the exercise of a profession
he set up practice as a lawyer
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the act of doing something
he put his plans into practice
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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
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practicernoun
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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
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practicesimple
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practicessimple
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have practicedperfect
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has practicedperfect
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am practicingprogressive
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are practicingprogressive
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is practicingprogressive
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have been practicingperfect progressive
-
has been practicingperfect progressive
Past
-
practicedsimple
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had practicedperfect
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was practicingprogressive
-
were practicingprogressive
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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:
The surge made public safety a daily practice for many residents.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
His security guard took the woman's phone away - a "standard practice" to protect their privacy, according to Barrientos.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
On Monday, in keeping with coach Sean McVay’s stated plan to have Stafford practice in the second and fourth practices of each four-day block, the starting quarterback will practice for the first time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
In 2009, he shocked the legal industry by departing Skadden for Kirkland & Ellis, which at the time had only a nascent mergers-and-acquisitions practice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
“If I stay, I will practice my marching every morning and sometimes at night as well.”
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Their practices showed that public safety cannot be measured only by who has legal authority to act in its name.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
He added: "It's curious that the same countries employing these practices are the ones criticising."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
On Monday, in keeping with coach Sean McVay’s stated plan to have Stafford practice in the second and fourth practices of each four-day block, the starting quarterback will practice for the first time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Gen. Mykhailo Drapatiy said his efforts to change Ukrainian military practices hadn’t been successful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
I realized in that moment it wasn’t about my injuries or missed practices.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Prosecutors allege she illegally performed abortions and practiced medicine without a license.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
As a result, players are practiced in those tactics from youth, and teams are chosen by which players best fit that style.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
While scientists have learned a great deal about the early stages of learning, much less has been known about what happens after a skill has been practiced extensively and becomes almost effortless.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
The experienced and arrogant Lee, Washington’s second-in-command, practiced what he described as a “virtuous kind of treason.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
I’d memorized her question, practiced withNan and Wynn for about an hour, and could recite it as easy as I could my own name.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
She said her commitment to practicing springs from childhood clumsiness—it always took her longer to grasp new movements and techniques than some of her peers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Those results showed that participants practicing TRE lost an average of 3-4 kilos more than people who received nutritional guidance alone, regardless of when their eating window occurred.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
After about two years of practicing, and a couple of weeks out from an operation on her right hand, Freya realised she might never play the piano with two hands again.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Private-practice attorney Nick Owens and Austin Baurichter, a practicing lawyer and Karley’s husband, began drafting the ConserveOhio petition in March to fight back against local plans to build large-scale data centers across the region.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
I’d been practicing arithmetic since I’d first stepped into the school, and I never got better at it.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
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.
