practice

Noun

practice (usually uncountable, plural practices)

1. (usually) Repetition of an activity to improve a skill.
   • Near-synonyms: (sometimes synonymous) training, rehearsing, rehearsal, dry run, trial, workout
   • He will need lots of practice with the lines before he performs them.

   Synonyms:

   practicing, drill, exercise, training, rehearsing, rehearsal, dry run, trial, workout

   1. (usually) An organized event for the purpose of performing such repetition.
      • Being on a team is hard: you're always having to go to practice while everyone else is taking it easy.
      • I have choir practice every Sunday after church.
   2. (usually) The state of being proficient due to repetition of a skill.
      • I was rusty, but after a few months, I got back into practice.
2. (especially, usually) The ongoing pursuit of a craft or profession, particularly in medicine or the fine arts.
   • Which is the most demanding? I think that my practice as an artist is 'stronger' because it is the practice that best fuels and balances myself and that generates new knowledge for my other work as both arts educator and creative arts therapist.2016, Raphael Vella, Artist-Teachers in Context: International Dialogues, Springer, →ISBN, page 53
   1. (especially, usually) Skilful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; stratagem; artifice.
      • He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer.a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
   2. (especially, usually) An easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.
   3. (especially, usually) The observance of religious duties that an spiritual institution requires of its members.
   4. (especially, usually) The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts.
      • This firm of solicitors is involved in family law practice.
   5. (countable, especially, usually) A place where a professional service is provided, such as a general practice.
      • She ran a thriving medical practice.
3. (usually) Actual operation or experiment, in contrast to theory.
   • That may work in theory, but will it work in practice?

   Antonyms:

   theory

   1. (usually) A customary action, habit, or behaviour; a manner or routine.
      • It is the usual practice of employees there to wear neckties only when meeting with customers.
      • It is good practice to check each door and window before leaving.