Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb All but; nearly; almost.
  • adverb In a way that is practical.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a practical manner; from a practical point of view; by actual experience; not merely theoretically: as, to be practically acquainted with a business.
  • In effect; actually, so far as results and relations are concerned; as a matter of fact.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In a practical way; not theoretically; really
  • adverb By means of practice or use; by experience or experiment
  • adverb In practice or use
  • adverb Almost.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In practice; in effect. Not necessarily officially the case but what actually occurs.
  • adverb Almost completely; almost entirely
  • adverb With respect to practices or a practice.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb (degree adverb used before a noun phrase) for all practical purposes but not completely
  • adverb almost; nearly
  • adverb in a practical manner

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

practical +‎ -ly.

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Examples

  • Eight years and billions of dollars later, we learned that the North Koreans were breaking their word practically from day one.

    A Messenger for Pyongyang 2011

  • The title practically screams out the conclusion that he appears to be seeking.

    When men are insecure about masculinity, they support war and oppose same-sex marriage 2005

  • The word practically wedged in her throat, and she flushed.

    Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001

  • The word practically wedged in her throat, and she flushed.

    Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001

  • The word practically wedged in her throat, and she flushed.

    Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001

  • The word practically wedged in her throat, and she flushed.

    Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001

  • Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller was quoted as saying officials were considering an asset swap, which he called practically a merger.

    Putin: Gazprom, Naftogaz Should Merge 2010

  • So Scalia's insistence that the Catholic Church does not consider capital punishment immoral rests on the word "practically" in the Church's catechism.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • Another year, another April 20th, and another president who used the stuff, and yet marijuana use and possession is still a crime in practically all circumstances in this country.

    Archive 2009-04-01 KaneCitizen 2009

  • Another year, another April 20th, and another president who used the stuff, and yet marijuana use and possession is still a crime in practically all circumstances in this country.

    4-20 rolls around again... KaneCitizen 2009

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