Practical
['præktɪk(ə)l] or ['præktɪkl]
Definition
(adj.) having or put to a practical purpose or use; 'practical mathematics'; 'practical applications of calculus' .
(adj.) concerned with actual use or practice; 'he is a very practical person'; 'the idea had no practical application'; 'a practical knowledge of Japanese'; 'woodworking is a practical art' .
Editor: Sasha--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Of or pertaining to practice or action.
(a.) Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical chemistry.
(a.) Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.
(a.) Derived from practice; as, practical skill.
Typed by Harrison
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Adapted to practice or use, not speculative, not theoretical.[2]. Experienced, versed, proficient, trained, qualified, practised, skilled, thoroughbred, able, AU FAIT.
Editor: Wendell
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Useful, serviceable, skilled, trained,[See CUSTOM]
Checked by Hank
Examples
- But practical sense told them that sex cannot be confined within marriage. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Without it the engine would have been too clumsy and slow for practical use, but with it the greatest possibilities of use appeared. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- In some sense, men had always used an inductive method in dealing with their immediate practical concerns. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The shortness of the mercury column as compared with that of water makes the mercury more convenient for both experimental and practical purposes. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- This was a very primitive device, requiring several minutes for the engine to make one stroke, but it was the beginning of the practical use of steam as a motive power. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- My disposition is, if I may say so, eminently practical. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- We see again here, as in the case of Thales, th at the love of abstract thought, the pursuit of science as science, did not interfere with ultimate practical applications. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- He then became a little more practical than I liked, first taking hold of my hand, and next kissing me by force. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- It was of less immediate practical importance that it frequently defined them wrongly. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- It was a wonderful experience to have problems given me out of the intuitions of a great mind, based on enormous experience in practical work, and applying to new lines of progress. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- When rotating at the rate of 788 revolutions in a minute, and lifting the water 19·4 feet, the greatest practical effect, compared with the power employed, was attained. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Can anybody fail to make the inference what the practical result will be? Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- If two dissimilar metals could be decomposed and power at the same time produced they contended that practical work might be done with the force. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Siemens in the provisional specification of his British patent No. 2,064, of 1857, but it does not seem at that time to have been carried out with any practical result. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- It's so practical. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
Edited by Jeremy