PRACTICE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does practice mean? 

• PRACTICE (noun)
  The noun PRACTICE has 5 senses:

1. a customary way of operation or behavior

2. systematic training by multiple repetitions

3. translating an idea into action

4. the exercise of a profession

5. knowledge of how something is usually done

  Familiarity information: PRACTICE used as a noun is common.

• PRACTICE (verb)
  The verb PRACTICE has 5 senses:

1. carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions

2. learn by repetition

3. engage in a rehearsal (of)

4. avail oneself to

5. engage in or perform

  Familiarity information: PRACTICE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRACTICE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A customary way of operation or behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

pattern; practice

Context example:

they changed their dietary pattern

Hypernyms ("practice" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "practice"):

cooperation (the practice of cooperating)

cross dressing; transvestism; transvestitism (the practice of adopting the clothes or the manner or the sexual role of the opposite sex)

systematism (the habitual practice of systematization and classification)

naturism; nudism (going without clothes as a social practice)

ritualism (exaggerated emphasis on the importance of rites or ritualistic forms in worship)

ritual (the prescribed procedure for conducting religious ceremonies)

quotation (the practice of quoting from books or plays etc.)

papism; popery (offensive terms for the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church)

calisthenics; callisthenics (the practice of calisthenic exercises)

nonconformism (the practice of nonconformity)

mistreatment (the practice of treating (someone or something) badly)

lynch law (the practice of punishing people by hanging without due process of law)

unwritten law (law based on customary behavior)

peonage (the practice of making a debtor work for his creditor until the debt is discharged)

slaveholding; slavery (the practice of owning slaves)

symbolisation; symbolism; symbolization (the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning)

lobbyism (the practice of lobbying; the activities of a lobbyist)

biologism (use of biological principles in explaining human especially social behavior)

featherbedding (the practice (usually by a labor union) of requiring an employer to hire more workers than are required)

formalism (the practice of scrupulous adherence to prescribed or external forms)

one-upmanship (the practice of keeping one jump ahead of a friend or competitor)

pluralism (the practice of one person holding more than one benefice at a time)

modernism (practices typical of contemporary life or thought)

occult; occult arts (supernatural practices and techniques)

ornamentalism (the practice of ornamental display)

cannibalism (the practice of eating the flesh of your own kind)

careerism (the practice of advancing your career at the expense of your personal integrity)

custom; usage; usance (accepted or habitual practice)

habitude (habitual mode of behavior)

fashion (characteristic or habitual practice)

Derivation:

practical (concerned with actual use or practice)

practical (guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory)

practice (avail oneself to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Systematic training by multiple repetitions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

drill; exercise; practice; practice session; recitation

Context example:

practice makes perfect

Hypernyms ("practice" is a kind of...):

grooming; preparation; training (activity leading to skilled behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "practice"):

scrimmage ((American football) practice play between a football team's squads)

target practice (practice in shooting at targets)

shadowboxing (sparring with an imaginary opponent (for exercise or training))

brushup; review (practice intended to polish performance or refresh the memory)

dry run; rehearsal (a practice session in preparation for a public performance (as of a play or speech or concert))

rehearsal ((psychology) a form of practice; repetition of information (silently or aloud) in order to keep it in short-term memory)

military drill (training in marching and the use of weapons)

manual; manual of arms ((military) a prescribed drill in handling a rifle)

fire drill (an exercise intended to train people in duties and escape procedures to be followed in case of fire)

Derivation:

practice (learn by repetition)

practice (engage in a rehearsal (of))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Translating an idea into action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

practice; praxis

Context example:

differences between theory and praxis of communism

Hypernyms ("practice" is a kind of...):

effectuation; implementation (the act of implementing (providing a practical means for accomplishing something); carrying into effect)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The exercise of a profession

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

I took over his practice when he retired

Hypernyms ("practice" is a kind of...):

employment; exercise; usage; use; utilisation; utilization (the act of using)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "practice"):

medical practice (the practice of medicine)

witching (the use or practice of witchcraft)

private practice (the practice of a profession independently and not as an employee)

optometry (the practice of an optometrist)

dental practice (the practice of dentistry)

cosmetology (the practice of beautifying the face and hair and skin)

consultancy (the practice of giving expert advice within a particular field)

law practice (the practice of law)

Derivation:

practice (avail oneself to)

practice (carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Knowledge of how something is usually done

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

it is not the local practice to wear shorts to dinner

Hypernyms ("practice" is a kind of...):

cognition; knowledge; noesis (the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "practice"):

custom; tradition (a specific practice of long standing)

convention; formula; normal; pattern; rule (something regarded as a normative example)

heritage (practices that are handed down from the past by tradition)

• PRACTICE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

do; exercise; practice; practise

Context example:

practice law

"Practice" entails doing...:

do work; work (be employed)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "practice"):

shamanise; shamanize (practice shamanism)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

practice (the exercise of a profession)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Learn by repetition

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

drill; exercise; practice; practise

Context example:

Pianists practice scales

Hypernyms (to "practice" is one way to...):

learn; read; study; take (be a student of a certain subject)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

practice (systematic training by multiple repetitions)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Engage in a rehearsal (of)

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

practice; practise; rehearse

Hypernyms (to "practice" is one way to...):

do; execute; perform (carry out or perform an action)

Domain category:

performing arts (arts or skills that require public performance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "practice"):

walk through (perform in a perfunctory way, as for a first rehearsal)

scrimmage (practice playing (a sport))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They will practice the duet

Derivation:

practice (systematic training by multiple repetitions)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Avail oneself to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

apply; practice; use

Context example:

practice non-violent resistance

Verb group:

apply; employ; use; utilise; utilize (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "practice"):

follow (adhere to or practice)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

practice (a customary way of operation or behavior)

practice (the exercise of a profession)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Engage in or perform

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

commit; practice

Context example:

commit a random act of kindness

Hypernyms (to "practice" is one way to...):

engage; prosecute; pursue (carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

I have no doubt Jackson would take my practice.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With practice we might do something quite clever.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I am told that, with a little practice, one can remember all that goes on or that one hears said during a day.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Sometimes, on trail, she makes practice with revolver. I laugh.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Everyone thinks you need to ‘practice, practice, practice’ when learning something new.

(Brains may use short rest periods to strengthen memories, National Institutes of Health)

And in practice again, I observe.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mrs. Chillip, coming into a little property in that neighbourhood, under her father's will, I bought a practice down there, in which you will be glad to hear I am doing well.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A registered nurse with advanced education, knowledge, skills, and scope of practice.

(Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner, NCI Thesaurus)

On the way to town, hanging around the saloon at the cross-roads, were three dogs that made a practice of rushing out upon him when he went by.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

You have no working-class nor criminal practice.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)