Practice | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Prac'tice, n.

noun

n. [L. Lat. practica, Gr. πρακτική, from πρακτικός; O. Fr. pratique, N. Fr. pratique, Sp. practica, It. pratica. See PRACTICAL.]

Frequently repeated or customary actions; a succession of acts of a similar kind; as, the practice of rising early or of dining late; the practice of making regular entries of accounts; the practice of virtue or vice.
Customary or constant use.

Obsolete words may be revived when they are more sounding or significant than those in practice. Dryden. 3. Skill or dexterity acquired by use. [Rare.] “His nice fence and his active practice.” Shak. 4. Actual performance, in distinction from theory; action. There are two functions of the soul,—contemplation and practice,—according to the general division of objects, some of which only entertain our speculations, others employ our actions. South. There is a distinction, but no opposition, between theory and practice; each, to a certain extent, supposes the other; theory is dependent on practice; practice must have preceded theory. Sir W. Hamilton. 5. Application of science or knowledge to the wants of men, in the recurring incidents of life; as, the practice of medicine or law. Practice is exercise of an art, or the application of a science in life, which application is itself an art. Sir W. Hamilton.

Hence, the limits within which a profession is exercised or practiced; as, a physician of large practice.
Skillful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice;—usually in a bad sense.

He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer. Sidney.

A rule in arithmetic, by which the operations of the general rules are abridged in use.
(Law.) 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.

Bouvier. Syn. — Custom; usage; habit; manner.

Prăc'tice, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. PRACTICED (prāk'tist); p. pr. & vb. n. PRACTICING.] [From the noun.] [Written also practise, but the orthography of the verb ought to be the same as that of the noun, as in notice, and to notice.]

Sense 1. To do or perform frequently, customarily, or habitually; to perform by a succession of acts; as, to practice gaming; to practice fraud or deception.

Sense 2. To carry on in practice, or repeated action; to apply, as a theory, to real life; to exercise, as a profession, trade, art, &c.; as, to practice law or medicine; to practice gunnery or surveying.

These men practiced the books; another might, perhaps, have read them in some sort usefully. Milton.

Sense 3. To commit; to perpetrate; as, the horrors practiced at Wyoming. Marshall.

Sense 4. To make use of; to use. [Obs.]

In malice to this good knight’s wife, I practiced Ubaldo and Ricardo to corrupt her. Massinger.

Sense 5. Hence, to accustom.

In church they are taught to love God; after church they are practiced to love their neighbor. Landor.

Præ'tiçe, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To perform certain acts frequently or customarily, either for instruction, profit, or amusement; as, to practice with the broadsword; to practice with the rifle, or on the piano.

Sense 2. To learn by practice.

They shall practice how to live secure. Milton.

Sense 3. To try artifices or stratagems.

I have practiced with him, And found means to let the victor know That Syphax and Sempronius are his friends. Addison.

Sense 4. To exercise an employment or profession; especially, to exercise or pursue that of medicine or of law.

I am little inclined to practice on others, and as little that others should practice on me. Sir W. Temple.