Meaning of practice in English

practice

noun

/ˈpræk.tɪs/ us

/ˈpræk.tɪs/

practice noun (ACTION)

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B2 [ U ]

action rather than thought or ideas:

How do you intend to put these proposals into practice, Mohamed?

in practice

used to describe what really happens as opposed to what you think will happen in a particular situation:

It seemed like a good idea before we started, but in practice it was a disaster.

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It frustrates me that I'm not able to put any of my ideas into practice.
He doubted whether the plan was realizable in practice.
Her idea for reorganizing the department will never work in practice.
You'd better check you've considered all the details before you actually put the scheme into practice.
In theory, the journey ought to take three hours, but in practice it usually takes four because of roadworks.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Acting and acts

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practice noun (REGULAR ACTIVITY)

C2 [ C or U ]

something that is usually or regularly done, often as a habit, tradition, or custom:

What can European companies learn from Japanese business practices?

It's common practice in the States to tip the hairdresser.

This is a cruel practice that should be banned immediately.

What is standard practice (= what is usually done) in a situation like this?

Newspaper editors have agreed to a new code of practice on the invasion of privacy.

make a practice of something US or UK old-fashioned

to do something regularly:

I'll do your washing for you this time, but I'm not going to make a practice of it.

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Winning first prize was the culmination of years of practice and hard work.
I asked the teacher if I could be excused from football practice as my knee still hurt.
The practice of giving eggs at Easter can be traced back to festivals in ancient China.
With some regular practice, those pieces will be perfect in time for your music exam.
The course comprises a class book, a practice book and an audio tape.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Repeating an action

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Habitual behaviour

practice noun (TRAINING)

A2 [ C or U ]

the act of doing something regularly or repeatedly to improve your skill at doing it:

I need to get some more practice before I take my driving test.

Are you coming to choir practice this evening?

She's never at home because she spends all her free time at hockey practices.

You'll gradually get better at it - it's just a question of practice.

I'm a little out of practice (= I haven't had any recent experience) but I'd love to play.

Do you mind if I have a few practice shots before we start the game?

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choir practice
Winning first prize was the culmination of years of practice and hard work.
I asked the teacher if I could be excused from football practice as my knee still hurt.
The course comprises a class book, a practice book and an audio tape.
At the end of each teaching practice, trainee teachers are asked to appraise their own performance.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Repeating an action

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practice noun (WORK)

[ C ]

a job or business that involves a lot of skill or training:

a dental/medical/veterinary/legal practice

Our practice is responsible for about 5,000 patients.

She's decided to leave the Health Service and join a private practice.

Idiom

practice makes perfect

practice

verb

/ˈpræk.tɪs/ us

/ˈpræk.tɪs/

US spelling of practise

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Repeating an action

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Work, working and the workplace

(Definition of practice from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

practice | American Dictionary

practice

noun

/ˈpræk·tɪs/

practice noun (ACTION)

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[ U, not gradable ]

action rather than thought or ideas:

It seemed like a good idea, but in practice it was a disaster.

How soon will the new procedures be put into practice?

practice noun (REGULAR ACTIVITY)

[ C/U ]

something that is usually or regularly done, often as a habit, tradition, or custom:

[ U ] It was his usual practice to buy a newspaper every morning on the way to the office.

Idiom

practice what you preach

practice

verb

(esp. Cdn Br practise)

/ˈpræk·tɪs/

practice verb (TRAIN)

[ I/T ]

to do or play something regularly or repeatedly in order to become skilled at it:

[ T ] I’m good at tennis but I need to practice my serve.

practice verb (WORK)

[ I/T ]

to do work of a particular type for which a lot of training is necessary:

[ T ] The firm has been practicing law for over a hundred years.

(Definition of practice from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

practice | Business English

practice

noun

/ˈpræktɪs/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

[ U ]

action as opposed to thoughts, ideas, or plans:

in practice We'll need a year at least to see whether this new approach will work in practice.

put sth into practice We are beginning to put the new processes and systems into practice.

[ U ] LAW

the work done by people such as lawyers, doctors, etc. which involves long periods of training and high levels of skill:

He trained in private practice in Glasgow.

go into/set up in practice After graduation, he pursued a doctorate in pharmacology instead of going into practice.

[ C ] LAW

the business or place of work of people such as lawyers, doctors, etc.:

run/start a practice He runs a legal practice that rivals some of the biggest commercial law firms in the country.

a dental/legal/medical practice

a group/private practice

join/leave a practice

[ C or U ]

the way of doing things in a particular business, industry, etc.:

common/standard/usual practice It is common practice in the building industry to cost all items gross.

bad/best/good practice The insurance firm has issued a warning report to its members, highlighting breaches of best practice.

practice of doing sth The company was fined over its continued practice of employing illegal immigrants.

adopt/follow/introduce a practice More and more companies worldwide have begun to adopt the practice of preparing sustainability reports.

accounting/business/management practices Shares in the company fell after it revealed that regulators were reviewing its accounting practices.

employment/labour/working practices

Examples of practice

practice

The positive part aims to show that adoption and practice are sufficient to create the fundamental plans of a legal system.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Most of the agriculture practiced here is short-term rice and manioc followed by 4- 7 y of fallow.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Unfortunately, rigorous scientific data are lacking on the efficacy and effectiveness to justify medical practice.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Here was a version of philosophical commerce closer to our own definition of the word "commerce," yet one intimately related to practice.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In practice this procedure would also issue an order to physically ship the merchandise.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Moreover, the usage of a purely mass-memory evaluation strategy improves previous deductive systems, eliminating, in practice, any limitation in the dimension of the input data.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

But many physicians have refused these incentives because of the risk of control of their practice.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Using reflective practice to link personal and public theories.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It reinforces that crucial determinants are respect for multiple perspectives, equal distribution of power, clarity of practice model, and open communication styles and systems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Only a few practices reported using the data in a more systematic way and carrying out a regular analysis of them.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In the end, we have only neutered rhetorical forms to stand as theories, and random design novelties to stand as practice.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Administrative staff in enhanced and usual care practices completed an 8-hour training session on recruiting eligible patients using a two-stage screening process.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Particular importance is attached to the gap between the theory and practice of law, and how the divergence could be reduced.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

As well as considering the extreme theoretical cases he looks at the roles of organization and procurement in practice.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Inspired by progressive practices, they stressed the connections between learning inside the school and life outside it.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of practice?