Prac"ti*cal (?), a. [L. practicus active, Gr. fit for doing or performing, practical, active, fr. to do, work, effect: cf. F. pratique, formerly also practique. Cf. Pragmatic, Practice.]

1.

Of or pertaining to practice or action.

2.

Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical chemistry.

"Man's practical understanding." South. "For all practical purposes." Macaulay.

3.

Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.

4.

Derived from practice; as, practical skill.

Practical joke, a joke put in practice; a joke the fun of which consists in something done, in distinction from something said; esp., a trick played upon a person.

 

© Webster 1913.

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