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Promise vs Practice - What's the difference?

promise | practice |

As nouns the difference between promise and practice

is that promise is an oath or affirmation; a vow while practice is repetition of an activity to improve skill.

As verbs the difference between promise and practice

is that promise is to commit to something or action; to make an oath; make a vow while practice is (us) to repeat (an activity) as a way of improving one's skill in that activity.

promise

English

Alternative forms

* promyse

Noun

(en noun)
  • An oath or affirmation; a vow.
  • A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his use.
  • * 1668 July 3rd, , “Thomas Rue contra'' Andrew Hou?toun” in ''The Deci?ions of the Lords of Council & Se??ion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547–548
  • He pur?ued Andrew Hou?toun upon his promi?e , to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in ab?ence obtained him to be holden as confe?t and Decerned.
  • Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.
  • * Washington Irving
  • My native country was full of youthful promise .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), chapter=1
  • , title=(The China Governess) citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}
  • (computing, programming) A placeholder object that can be manipulated in code before it has been assigned a value.
  • (obsolete) Bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.
  • * Bible, Acts i. 4
  • He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.

    Verb

    (promis)
  • To commit to something or action; to make an oath; make a vow.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.
  • To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.
  • The clouds promise rain.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1897, author=
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 citation , passage=I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.}}

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    *

    See also

    * (election promise)

    Statistics

    *

    practice

    Alternative forms

    * (British) practise (used only for the verb )

    Noun

    (practices)
  • Repetition of an activity to improve skill.
  • He will need lots of practice with the lines before he performs them.
  • (uncountable) The ongoing pursuit of a craft or profession, particularly in medicine or the fine arts.
  • (countable) A place where a professional service is provided, such as a general practice.
  • She ran a thriving medical practice .
  • The observance of religious duties that a church requires of its members.
  • A customary action, habit, or behavior; a manner or routine.
  • It is the usual practice of employees there to wear neckties only when meeting with customers.
    It is good practice to check each door and window before leaving.
  • Actual operation or experiment, in contrast to theory.
  • That may work in theory, but will it work in practice ?
  • (legal) The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts.
  • This firm of solicitors is involved in family law practice .
  • Skilful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; stratagem; artifice.
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
  • He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer.
    (Francis Bacon)
  • (math) A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.
  • Usage notes

    British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand English distinguish between practice'' (a noun) and ''practise (a verb), analogously with advice/advise. In American English, practice is commonly used for both forms, and this is also common in Canada.

    Synonyms

    * (improvement of skill) rehearsal, drill, exercise, training, workout * (customary action) custom, habit, routine, wont, wone * fashion, pattern, trick, way, dry run, trial

    Derived terms

    * general practice * overpractice * practice makes perfect * practice what one preaches * put into practice * sharp practice

    Verb

    (practic)
  • (US) To repeat (an activity) as a way of improving one's skill in that activity.
  • You should practice playing piano every day.
  • (US) To repeat an activity in this way.
  • If you want to speak French well, you need to practice .
  • (US) To perform or observe in a habitual fashion.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
  • , author=John T. Jost , title=Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)? , volume=100, issue=2, page=162 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and elsewhere is manifestly unfair.}}
    They gather to practice religion every Saturday.
  • (US) To pursue (a career, especially law, fine art or medicine).
  • She practiced law for forty years before retiring.
  • (intransitive, archaic, US) To conspire.
  • Usage notes

    * In sense "to repeat an activity as a way improving one's skill" this is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Derived terms

    * practiced * practicing