Definition of "practical" [prac•ti•cal]

• Of, relating to, governed by, or acquired through practice or action, rather than theory, speculation, or ideals: gained practical experience of sailing as a deck hand. (adjective)
• Manifested in or involving practice: practical applications of calculus. (adjective)
• Actually engaged in a specified occupation or a certain kind of work; practicing. (adjective)
• Capable of or suitable to being used or put into effect; useful: practical knowledge of Japanese. See Usage Note at practicable. (adjective)
• Concerned with the production or operation of something useful: Woodworking is a practical art. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In arranging the parts of speech, I conceive it to be the legitimate object of the practical grammarian, to consult _practical convenience_."
• "That certain human souls, living on this practical Earth, should think to save themselves and a ruined world by noisy theoretic demonstrations and laudations of _the_ Church, instead of some unnoisy, unconscious, but _practical, _ total, heart-and-soul demonstration of _a_ Church: this, in the circle of revolving ages, this also was a thing we were to see."
• "That certain human souls, living on this practical Earth, should think to save themselves and a ruined world by noisy theoretic demonstrations and laudations of _the_ Church, instead of some unnoisy, unconscious, but _practical_, total, heart-and-soul demonstration of a Church: this, in the circle of revolving ages, this also was a thing we were to see."