prac|ti|cal

prac|ti|cal «PRAK tuh kuhl», adjective, noun.

–adj.

1. having to do with action or practice rather than thought or theory: »

Earning a living is a practical matter.

SYNONYM(S): See syn. under sensible. (Cf. ↑sensible)

2. fit for actual practice: »

a practical plan. My scheme…was so much more practical…than the one hatched by those three simple-minded conspirators (W. H. Hudson).

3. useful: »

Bookbinding, basketwork, and interior decoration are practical arts. His legal knowledge was not very practical when he became a chemist.

4. having good sense; using common sense: »

A practical person does not spend his time and money foolishly.

5. inclined toward or fitted for action rather than thought or imagination; matter-of-fact; prosaic: »

a practical mind. A common-place, practical reply…was, I was sure, the best (Charlotte Brontë).

6. engaged in actual practice or work: »

A practical farmer runs a farm.

7. being such in effect; virtual: »

So many of our soldiers were captured that our victory was a practical defeat.

–n.

1. an examination of practical knowledge in some subject: »

She had arrived in Edinburgh still “stiff as a board” after some exhausting practicals as a physical education student (London Times).

2. a pragmatic or practical person: »

Visionaries disagreed with practicals and writers of sensibility with social historians (Saul Bellow).

╂[extension of practic < Old French practique, learned borrowing from Late Latin practicus < Greek prāktikós < prāktós < pr, variant of pr do, act]

–prac´ti|cal|ness, noun.