Hypertext Webster Gateway: "practical"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Practical \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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
practical
adj 1: 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" [ant: {impractical}]
2: guided by practical experience and observation rather than
theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a
hard-nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his
approach to business"; "not ideology but pragmatic
politics" [syn: {hardheaded}, {hard-nosed}, {pragmatic}]
3: being actually such in almost every respect; "a practical
failure"; "the once elegant temple lay in virtual ruin"
[syn: {virtual(a)}, {practical(a)}]
4: having or put to a practical purpose or use; "practical
mathematics"; "practical applications of calculus"
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