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, practical, 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"

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.
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   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.
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   3. Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge
      to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.
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   4. Derived from practice; as, practical skill.
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   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.
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