1.  practical(a = adj.all) - 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"
Antonym: impractical
Derived forms noun practicality₁, noun practice₁

2.  practical(s = adj.all) hard-nosed, hardheaded, pragmatic - 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"
Derived forms noun practicality₁, noun practice₁

3.  practical(s = adj.all) virtual - being actually such in almost every respect; "a practical failure"; "the once elegant temple lay in virtual ruin"

4.  practical(s = adj.all) - having or put to a practical purpose or use; "practical mathematics"; "practical applications of calculus"

1.  Of or pertaining to practice or action. [1913 Webster]

2.  Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical chemistry. [1913 Webster]

3.  Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind. [1913 Webster]

4.  Derived from practice; as, practical skill. [1913 Webster]

practical, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 of or concerned with practice or use rather than theory.
2 suited to use or action; designed mainly to fulfil a function (practical shoes).
3 (of a person) inclined to action rather than speculation; able to make things function well.
4 a that is such in effect though not nominally (for all practical purposes). b virtual (in practical control).
5 feasible; concerned with what is actually possible (practical politics).
--n. a practical examination or lesson.

Idiom:
practical joke a humorous trick played on a person. practical joker a person who plays practical jokes.

Derivative:
practicality n. (pl. -ies). practicalness n.

Etymology:
earlier practic f. obs. F practique or LL practicus f. Gk praktikos f. prasso do, act

N  conduct, behavior, deportment, comportment, carriage, maintien, demeanor, guise, bearing, manner, observance, dealing, transaction, business, tactics, game, game plan, policy, polity, generalship, statesmanship, seamanship, strategy, strategics, plan, management, husbandry, housekeeping, housewifery, stewardship, menage, regime, economy, economics, political economy, government, execution, manipulation, treatment, campaign, career, life, course, walk, race, record, course of conduct, line of conduct, line of action, line of proceeding, role, process, ways, practice, procedure, modus operandi, MO, method of operating, method, path, conducting, strategical, businesslike, practical, executive.

N  agency, operation, force, working, strain, function, office, maintenance, exercise, work, swing, play, interworking, interaction, procurement, causation, instrumentality, influence, action, modus operandi, quickening power, maintaining power, sustaining power, home stroke, operative, efficient, efficacious, practical, effectual, at work, on foot, acting, in operation, in force, in action, in play, in exercise, acted upon, wrought upon, by the agency of through, by means of, I myself must mix with action lest I wither by des.

for all practical purposes, licensed practical nurse, practical application, practical joke, practical joker, practical nurse, practical politics