[syn: virtual(a), practical(a)]
4.  having or put to a practical purpose or use; 
- Example: "practical mathematics"
- Example: "practical applications of calculus"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
      [1913 Webster]
   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.
      [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 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.
      [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
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"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
147 Moby Thesaurus words for "practical":
   achievable, actable, adaptable, advantageous, appliable,
   applicable, applied, appropriate, attainable, balanced, banausic,
   beneficial, breadwinning, businesslike, commercial, commodious,
   commonsense, compassable, compliant, constructive, convenient,
   cool, coolheaded, doable, down-to-earth, ductile, earthy,
   effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, empirical,
   employable, everyday, expedient, exploitable, feasible, field,
   fitting, flexible, foolproof, functional, go, good for, handy,
   hard, hard-boiled, hard-nosed, hardheaded, helpful, hoaxproof,
   judicious, levelheaded, logical, malleable, manageable,
   maneuverable, manipulable, manipulatable, materialistic,
   matter-of-fact, moneymaking, mundane, negotiable,
   not born yesterday, of general utility, of help, of service,
   of use, old, old-time, operable, operatable, operational,
   operative, ordinary, overcomable, performable, personal,
   philosophical, pliable, pliant, positivistic, practicable,
   practical-minded, practiced, pragmatic, pragmatical, proper,
   prosaic, rational, realist, realistic, realizable, reasonable,
   reusable, sane, scientific, scientistic, seasoned, secular,
   sensible, serviceable, skilled, sober, sober-minded, sophisticated,
   sound, sound-thinking, straight-thinking, superable, surmountable,
   tough-minded, tractable, uncullible, undeceivable, undeludable,
   undupable, unfoolable, ungullible, unhoaxable, unideal,
   unidealistic, unromantic, unseduceable, unsentimental,
   untroublesome, usable, useable, useful, utilitarian, utilizable,
   versed, vet, veteran, viable, virtual, well-balanced, wieldable,
   wieldy, wise, workable, workaday, workday, working, worldly,
   yielding