Prac"tice (?), n. [OE. praktike,
practique, F. pratique, formerly also, practique,
LL. practica, fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; practical. See
Practical, and cf. Pratique, Pretty.]
1. Frequently repeated or customary action;
habitual performance; a succession of acts of a similar kind; usage;
habit; custom; as, the practice of rising early; the
practice of making regular entries of accounts; the
practice of daily exercise.
A heart . . . exercised with covetous
practices.
2 Pet. ii. 14.
2. Customary or constant use; state of being
used.
Obsolete words may be revived when they are more
sounding or more significant than those in
practice.
Dryden.
3. Skill or dexterity acquired by use;
expertness. [R.] "His nice fence and his active
practice." Shak.
4. Actual performance; application of
knowledge; -- opposed to theory.
There are two functions of the soul, -- contemplation
and practice.
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. Systematic exercise for instruction or
discipline; as, the troops are called out for practice; she
neglected practice in music.
6. Application of science to the wants of men;
the exercise of any profession; professional business; as, the
practice of medicine or law; a large or lucrative
practice.
Practice is exercise of an art, or the
application of a science in life, which application is itself an
art.
Sir W. Hamilton.
7. Skillful or artful management; dexterity in
contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice; plot; --
usually in a bad sense. [Obs.] Bacon.
He sought to have that by practice which he
could not by prayer.
Sir P. Sidney.
8. (Math.) A easy and concise method of
applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and
business.
9. (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.
Prac"tice (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Practiced (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Practicing (?).] [Often written practise,
practised, practising.] 1. To do or
perform frequently, customarily, or habitually; to make a practice of;
as, to practice gaming. "Incline not my heart . . .
practice wicked works."
Ps. cxli. 4.
2. To exercise, or follow, as a profession,
trade, art, etc., as, to practice law or medicine.
2. To exercise one's self in, for instruction
or improvement, or to acquire discipline or dexterity; as, to
practice gunnery; to practice music.
4. To put into practice; to carry out; to act
upon; to commit; to execute; to do. "Aught but Talbot's shadow
whereon to practice your severity." Shak.
As this advice ye practice or
neglect.
Pope.
5. To make use of; to employ. [Obs.]
In malice to this good knight's wife, I
practiced Ubaldo and Ricardo to corrupt her.
Massinger.
6. To teach or accustom by practice; to
train.
In church they are taught to love God; after church
they are practiced to love their neighbor.
Landor.
Prac"tice, v. i. [Often written
practise.] 1. To perform certain acts
frequently or customarily, either for instruction, profit, or
amusement; as, to practice with the broadsword or with the
rifle; to practice on the piano.
2. To learn by practice; to form a
habit.
They shall practice how to live
secure.
Milton.
Practice first over yourself to
reign.
Waller.
3. To try artifices or stratagems.
He will practice against thee by
poison.
Shak.
4. To apply theoretical science or knowledge,
esp. by way of experiment; to exercise or pursue an employment or
profession, esp. 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.
