Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

   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.

Source : WordNet®

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}, {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"