INDEX:
1. to practise for a competition, test, or performance
2. activities people do in order to practise
3. when you have not practised for a long time
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ STUDY
↑ IMPROVE
↑ LEARN
↑ CAN/CAN'T
↑ PERFORM/PERFORMANCE
↑ SPORT/GAME
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1. to practise for a competition, test, or performance
▷ practise British /practice American /ˈpræktɪs, ˈpræktəs/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to do an activity and repeat it a lot in order to get better at it :
▪ I’m learning how to play the piano, and I try to practise every day.
▪ Practicing karate twice a week might be enough, but you should try to do it a bit more.
▪ We’re going to Paris for a week in summer, so that Bill can practise his French.
practise doing something
▪ Practise speaking slowly and clearly.
practise for
▪ When I was practicing for the competition, I spent eight hours a day in the conservatory practice rooms.
practise on somebody/something
▪ I always wanted to be a hairdresser, and used to practise on my friends.
▷ train /treɪn/ [intransitive verb]
to prepare for a race or game by exercising and practising :
▪ If you’re really going to run in the marathon, you need to start training now.
▪ In the winter months, she trains in Montana.
train for
▪ Tyson is training for the big fight next week.
▷ be in training /biː ɪn ˈtreɪnɪŋ/ [verb phrase] especially British
to be in the period before a sports event or competition when you practise a particular sport or physical activity in a planned and controlled way :
▪ When I’m in training I spend at least four hours a day at the swimming pool.
be in training for
▪ He’s currently in training for an important race.
▷ work on /ˈwɜːʳk ɒn/ [transitive verb]
to practise a particular skill that you need to play a sport, a musical instrument etc, so that your whole performance improves :
▪ Your tennis playing is getting better, but you need to work on your serve.
▪ Scales and finger exercises are the areas to work on if you want to improve your technique.
▷ work at /ˈwɜːʳk æt/ [transitive verb]
to practise something over a long period of time and with a lot of effort in order to achieve a high enough standard :
▪ You’ll have to really work at it if you want to be a professional dancer.
▪ Learning another language is never easy, but if you work at it you’ll soon get results.
▷ rehearse /rɪˈhɜːʳs/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to practise something such as a play or concert, so that it is ready to be performed for the public :
▪ The director made us rehearse the opening scenes over and over.
▪ The band has been rehearsing at the studio all day.
rehearse for
▪ He is currently in New York rehearsing for ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’
▷ go/run through /ˈgəʊ, ˈrʌn θruː/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to practise something such as a play, speech, or piece of music by reading or playing it from start to finish :
▪ I promised to hear her go through her speech.
▪ Let’s go through it just once more.
▪ We went through the whole symphony four times, and he still wasn’t satisfied.
▷ keep your hand in /ˌkiːp jɔːʳ ˈhænd ɪn/ [verb phrase]
to practise something just enough to still be good at it but not enough to improve, especially when you no longer do it regularly :
▪ He still comes around the gym occasionally, just to keep his hand in.
▪ Although she has retired now, she keeps her hand in by giving her grandchildren music lessons.
2. activities people do in order to practise
▷ practice /ˈpræktɪs, ˈpræktəs/ [countable/uncountable noun]
things you do regularly in order to get better at something, or an occasion when you do these things :
▪ You’re getting better - you just need a little more practice.
▪ I try and get some practice in before classes.
▪ There are only three more practices before the concert.
piano/football/choir etc practice
▪ I scored two goals at hockey practice tonight.
▪ Are you going to choir practice?
▷ training /ˈtreɪnɪŋ/ [uncountable noun]
time that you spend practising and doing exercise in order to get better at a sport :
▪ The team captain got a knee injury during training.
a training course/session/programme etc
▪ Training sessions are on Saturdays at 10 a.m.
▷ rehearsal /rɪˈhɜːʳs ə l/ [countable/uncountable noun]
an occasion when all the people in a play, concert etc practise it in order to prepare for it to be performed for the public :
▪ Changes to the script are often made during rehearsal.
rehearsal of
▪ We’re having our first rehearsal of ‘Hamlet’ tonight.
dress rehearsal
when everyone wears the clothes they will be wearing in the actual play
▪ Wednesday’s dress rehearsal went fairly smoothly.
▷ run-through /ˈrʌn θruː/ [countable noun]
when you practise a play, speech, piece of music etc by reading or playing it from start to finish :
▪ Let’s have one more run-through and then finish for today.
▪ The cast could all have done with an extra run-through of some of the songs.
▷ dry run /ˌdraɪ ˈrʌn/ [countable noun]
an event in which you practise something by doing it from start to finish, especially in order to make sure that it will work or happen successfully :
▪ One of the pilots made an error during the dry run of the mission.
▪ The recording was intended to be a dry run, but Warfield sang the song flawlessly.
▷ exercise /ˈeksəʳsaɪz/ [countable noun]
an activity that is designed to make you practise a particular skill within a larger subject or area of activity :
▪ The exercises in Chapter 3 are helpful for students learning the future tense.
▪ a book of guitar exercises to improve finger flexibility
3. when you have not practised for a long time
▷ rusty /ˈrʌsti/ [adjective not before noun]
if your skill at something is rusty, it is not as good as it used to be, because you have not used it for a long time :
▪ My Spanish is pretty rusty.
▪ I hadn’t practiced for a long time, so I was really rusty.
▷ be out of practice /biː ˌaʊt əv ˈpræktə̇s/ [verb phrase]
if you are out of practice, you cannot do something as well as you could in the past, because you have not done it for a long time :
▪ Sam said he’s a little out of practice, but he’ll play if we need him.