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1537 R. Pole Let. to T. Cromwell in J. P. Collier 9 Hist. Lett. 3 Such wayes I have in practyse to be moche used wyth me.

1567 Acts II. 552/1 Ane licentious abuse enterit laitlie and cum in practize within this realme.

a1640 P. Massinger Beleeue as you List (1976) iv. i. 28 Your viper wine soe much in practise with gray bearded gallants.

1644 J. Milton Of Educ. 1 Of attainment farre more certain, then hath been yet in practice.

1693 J. Dryden in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires Ded. p. viii Obsolete Words may then be laudably reviv'd, when either they are more Sounding, or more Significant than those in practice.

1724 J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger Epist. & Panegyrick I. v. xxi. 259 It is perfectly unjust, but very much in practice, that fair, or ill Measures are approv'd or condemn'd, as they succeed or miscarry.

1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 107 Mr. Norbert was not clear-sighted enough, not that he did not perfectly know..the very branch of imposition now in practice upon him.

1817 R. Owen New View of Society (new ed.) 169 A due comparison of the various modes now in practice, or which may be devised.

1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee Pref. p. xv It is not pretended that these laws and customs existed in England in the sixth century;..inasmuch as they existed..in..later times, it is safe..to suppose them to have been in practice in that day also.

1816 J. Austen Emma II. xiv. 271 Something of that nature would be particularly desirable for me, as an inducement to keep me in practice; for married women, you know..are but too apt to give up music. View more context for this quotation

1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 116 A woodchopper..who takes a French paper, not for news..but to ‘keep himself in practice’, he being a Canadian by birth.

1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxvii. 352 I could work both kinds of prophecy..if I chose to take the trouble to keep in practice; but I seldom exercise any but the long kind.

1911 F. H. Burnett Secret Garden viii. 72 I've skipped as much as five hundred when I was twelve, but I wasn't as fat then..an' I was in practice.

1988 S. Meredeen Study for Survival & Success 43 We may forget old lessons and we certainly need to keep in practice to maintain our performance levels in certain types of skill.

2004 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 24 June 22 The band are playing as many gigs as they can, rather than concentrating on rehearsals, which is a seat-of-the-pants way to get in practice.

1848 E. Ronalds & T. Richardson tr. F. Knapp Chem. Technol. I. 98 Fyfe..believes, that the heat produced by coal which is actually made available in practice, is nearly the same as ought to be produced, according to theory, by the quantity of coke (carbon) which it yields.

1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. viii. 218 A saint in practice, if not in profession.

1958 K. Amis I like it Here viii. 92 The advent..of de Sousa and Bachixa was enough to drive him out of the room, which meant in practice..being driven out of the house.

1987 M. Warnock Memory iv. 65 Questions about the identity of persons often, in practice, arise because of the identity of names.

2004 Managem. Today Dec. 77/2 Many organisations preach..customer service and that HR is strategic, but do little or nothing in practice.

1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique i. f. 8 If any one liste to put these preceptes in practise, he maie doo, as hym liketh best.

1579 T. Twyne tr. Petrarch Phisicke against Fortune i. xxiv. 33 a The madnesse of men increaseably putteth it in practise.

1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres Gloss. 249 Any suddaine exploit..is to be put in practise vpon the enemy.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. ii. 206 Instruments, which the industry of man hath found out and put in practise.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iii. ii. 88 Thy aduice, this night, ile put in practise.

a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 43 An invention well deserving to be put in practice in England over all moats or dykes.

1683 J. Bramston Autobiogr. 2 If dying be an art, the soldier had reason to take some tyme to studie that, which he must of necessite one day putt into practice.

1706 Boston News-let. 3 June 5/2 In this time of danger..I shall be forced to put Martial Law in practice.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. i. vi. 97 I could never observe this Maxim to be put in practice by any Nation except that of Lilliput.

1761 Authentic Mem. Portuguese Inquisition 17 The various tricks put in practice by this notable Fourbe, to introduce the Inquisition.

1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman vi. 270 Having been solely employed either to prepare themselves to excite love, or actually putting their lessons in practice, they cannot live without love.

1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 681/1 Logography, a system of taking down the words of an orator without having recourse to short-hand, which was put in practice during the French revolution.

1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xxv. 403 The time came when these rehearsals must be put in practice.

1915 C. P. Gilman Herland in Forerunner Nov. 293/2 Terry put in practice his pet conviction that a woman loves to be mastered.

1955 Furnit. Devel. Council Newslet. June 3/2 Efficient method study cannot be put into practice without a sound knowledge of the work in hand.

1995 J. Miller & M. Stacey Driving Instructor's Handbk. (ed. 8) iv. 100 Explain briefly why it may not be a good place and then ask the ‘pupil’ to drive away, putting into practice all they have learnt so far.

1592 T. Kyd Trueth Murthering of Brewen 3 She put in practise to poyson him.

1706 Royal Proclam. 11 Apr. in London Gaz. No. 4218/1 It is High Treason for any..Persons to put in Practise to Absolve, Perswade or Withdraw any of Our Subjects..from their..Obedience to Us.

1623 J. Webster Deuils Law-case ii. iii What practice do they make of 't in their lives?

1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 147 The Gun (an instrument they now make practice of).

1647 N. Nye Art of Gunnery sig. A5^v Whatsoever thou findest in my Fire works, I do protest to thee, that I have made, and still do make practice of them myself; having by experience found them the best.

1680 J. Dean Dutch-Miller They shall come out of his Mill..just suitable to their Husbands humours, and dispositions, as he hath often experienced in other Countries where he hath made practice of his Art.

1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xv. 44 Tamberlaine made it his practice, to reade often the Heroike deeds, of his own Progenitors.

1668 J. Hancock Brooks' String of Pearls (Notice at end) Some dishonest Booksellers, called Land-Pirats, who make it their practise to steal Impressions of other mens Copies.

1821 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Writings (1984) 55 I had always made it a practice whenever an opportunity occurred of obtaining any information of our country,..to commit it to writing.

1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain I. xii. 253 I am not one of those who..make it a constant practice to disparage the higher orders.

1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 903/2 He enjoyed the opportunity of daily hearing his discourse, and made it his practice faithfully to commit to writing ‘the excellent things that usually fell from him’.

1988 F. Kaplan Dickens iii. 68 He encouraged her to make it a practice to visit him.

2004 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 14 Jan. 19 I have made it my practice to ignore letters with signatures suffixed by ‘MP’ or ‘MSP’.

1722 B. Franklin in New-England Courant 20 Aug. 1/2 No Woman..who has made a Practice of entertaining and discarding Humble Servants, without sufficient Reason [etc.].

1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iv. xii. 269 She had formerly travelled in a Company of Gipsies, who had made a Practice of stealing away Children. View more context for this quotation

a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) x. 198 They did not make a practice of feeding cows on cod's heads.

1896 A. R. White Youth's Educator xv. 188 If she makes a practice of entering the parlor and remains there during his entire call, he should conceal his annoyance.

1911 J. London Mauki in South Sea Tales 90 White men were ferocious creatures. They had to be, or they would not make a practice of venturing..into all harbors, two on a schooner.

1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train i. i. 10 I make a practice..of always thinking the best of people.

1990 J. Welch Indian Lawyer 234 Walt made a practice of studying the movement sheets, as well as parole hearings dates.