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What is "practically"

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
practically
adverb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
almost/virtually/practically etc nonexistent
▪ On a Sunday morning traffic was almost nonexistent.
virtually/almost/practically useless
▪ These flaws could make the software virtually useless in a business environment.
virtually/practically impossible (=almost impossible)
▪ Getting tickets for the concert is practically impossible.
virtually/practically/almost etc invisible
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
certain
▪ I was practically certain that Hertz Lipmann was not a provocateur.
▪ This seems practically certain from the plan he devised for killing Perseus.
impossible
▪ It was hot in the thin corridor, and the hanging husks made going forwards practically impossible.
▪ And it would be practically impossible to require a teacher to watch each student at all times.
▪ The ground was frozen, and digging foundations was practically impossible in such drastic weather conditions.
▪ These are a large number of possibilities and they would be practically impossible to distinguish by breeding experiments.
▪ This would lead to a mixing of chemicals and cause explosions that together with flooding would make evacuation practically impossible.
▪ Amongst black school leavers, finding a job is practically impossible.
▪ This reversal would have been practically impossible under Gats.
invisible
▪ So long as a tiger stands still or moves slowly, its stripes make it practically invisible in the jungle or among reeds.
nonexistent
▪ We would have liked to build, but planning permission in Snowdonia National Park was practically nonexistent.
▪ But checking with knowledgeable people at the Vermont Maple Laboratory, I found that the literature was practically nonexistent.
▪ As it turns out, the Hare virus was practically nonexistent.
▪ Her technique as a performer is practically nonexistent.
possible
▪ They will also do everything practically possible to protect the public.
▪ In the high-pressured and directive context of undergraduate teaching it may be desirable, but is not practically possible.
▪ In this exploratory project this was neither sensible nor practically possible.
▪ The aim was to restore as far as was practically possible the conditions of the pre-First World War era.
■ VERB
become
▪ In fact, Beaton suggested, the screen had become practically their only source of inspiration.
▪ During the past couple of years, Jerry had practically become his younger alter ego.
▪ The question has become practically irrelevant, but not politically or morally so.
▪ Jaq suspected that their recycling and export trade had practically become instinctive.
▪ The surface is physically modified, and the painting becomes practically illegible.
live
▪ You practically live in the place.
▪ Soon, Miss Monti began to practically live at the house.
▪ Apparently I practically lived in the Bedford for weeks after that.
▪ I practically lived at the plant.
▪ We practically lived together the last three summers, and she wanted to hide it from him.
▪ He practically lived at the Metropolitan on Fourteenth Street.
run
▪ She had not made Dan go, he had practically run out of her life.
▪ As a result of her actions, Amelia became even more popular and within a short time was practically running Ogontz.
▪ You practically run the business downstairs.
▪ Once, when I ask how her son is doing, she practically runs from the room.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Practically everyone from work was at the party.
▪ Joey just doesn't think practically.
▪ Linda practically jumped out of her chair when the phone rang.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Advertising was practically never used, even in the early 1970s when the use of search by companies was much less widespread.
▪ As frailty increases that kind of basic tending by the family may ease the terminal phase for everyone, practically and emotionally.
▪ In fact, both practically and philosophically our reality often turns out not to be very real.
▪ That is why there are so many books on management published and that is why I have read practically all of them.
▪ You practically jumped on me when we met.
▪ You can practically hear the toilets flushing.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Practically

Practically \Prac"ti*cal*ly\, adv.

  1. In a practical way; not theoretically; really; as, to look at things practically; practically worthless.

  2. By means of practice or use; by experience or experiment; as, practically wise or skillful; practically acquainted with a subject.

  3. In practice or use; as, a medicine practically safe; theoretically wrong, but practically right.

  4. Almost.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
practically

1620s, "in a practical manner," from practical + -ly (2). Meaning "for practical purposes, as good as" is from 1748; loosened sense of "almost" is from 1869.

Wiktionary
practically

adv. 1 In practice; in effect. Not necessarily officially the case but what actually occurs. 2 almost completely; almost entirely 3 With respect to practices or a practice.

WordNet
practically

  1. adv. almost; "he was practically the only guest at the party"

  2. (degree adverb used before a noun phrase) for all practical purposes but not completely; "much the same thing happened every time" [syn: much]

Usage examples of "practically".

All white men in the Solomons catch yaws, and every cut or abrasion practically means another yaw.

The cost of abutments and bridge flooring is practically independent of the length of span adopted.

Many of the tests specified in the Allen citation to determine the character of ink constituents, if made alone are practically valueless, because the same behavior occurs with different materials employed in the admixture of ink.

These ancient Martians had been a highly cultivated and literary race, but during the vicissitudes of those trying centuries of readjustment to new conditions, not only did their advancement and production cease entirely, but practically all their archives, records, and literature were lost.

The arcades of the aisles are practically the same in both aisles, except for the differences noted between the east and west aisle of the south transepts.

The article practically accused the Grand Dame Alpha of violating clan trust to pull strings for her granddaughter.

With regard to your suggestion that we should meet in person, to discuss the basis of a possible amalgamation, I can only say my house is at present full of guests--as is doubtless your own--and I should therefore find it practically impossible to leave Glen-Ellachie.

My wife took my ancestorial home and practically had it reconstructed, and refurbished, and spent more than if she had bought a new place.

It was practically safe to assume that the choir ended in an apse, though whether the aisles were also apsidal, or continued round a great apse as an ambulatory, was a debatable point.

Yanking her into the dining cabin, the Argon dragged her over to the table, where he practically dumped her into one of the two chairs.

There arose in this way an extremely difficult theoretical problem, but practically a convenient occasion for throwing asceticism altogether overboard, with the Gnostic asceticism, or restricting it to easy exercises.

Both sections were practically devoid of armor, and two blasts from his bazooka could put the ship out of action.

The Boche made unpleasant contributions to the proceedings by way of long range shelling by day and bombing by night, but although the 8th and the civilians suffered somewhat by these displays, the 7th escaped practically unhurt.

The shops as a rule were not raised from the ground nor were their doors bolted or barred, since thievery is practically unknown upon Barsoom.

It was decided that although three of them would have to ride after practically no sleep, it would be best to make an early start in the morning, and attempt to ride all the way to Bou Saada in one day.