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.