| PRA | <abbreviation> Plasma renin activity; phosphoribosylamine. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| practicable | 1. That may be practiced or performed; capable of being done or accomplished with available means or resources; feasible; as, a practicable method; a practicable aim; a practicable good. 2. Capable of being used; passable; as, a practicable weapon; a practicable road. Practicable breach, a breach which admits of approach and entrance by an assailing party. Synonym: Possible, feasible. Practicable, Possible. A thing may be possible, i. E, not forbidden by any law of nature, and yet may not now be practicable for want of the means requisite to its performance. Practicableness, Practicably. Origin: LL. Practicare to act, transact, fr. L. Practicus active, Gr., cf. F. Practicable, pratiquer to practice. See Practical. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| practical | 1. Of or pertaining to practice or action. 2. Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical chemistry. "Man's practical understanding." . "For all practical purposes." . 3. Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind. 4. Derived from practice; as, practical skill. Practical joke, a joke put in practice; a joke the fun of which consists in something done, in distinction from something said; especially, a trick played upon a person. Origin: 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| practical anatomy | Anatomy studied by means of dissection. See: gross anatomy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| practical nurse | A graduate of a specific educational program that prepares the individual for a career in nursing with less responsibility than a graduate or registered nurse. (05 Mar 2000) |
| practical units | Unit's of magnitudes convenient for use in the practical applications of electricity; as originally defined they were absolute unit's (multiples of CGS electromagnetic unit's); they include the ampere, coulomb, farad, henry, joule, ohm, volt, and watt. (05 Mar 2000) |
| practically | 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| practice | 1. Frequently repeated or customary action; habitual performance; a succession of acts of a similar kind; usage; habit; custom; as, the practice of rising early; the practice of making regular entries of accounts; the practice of daily exercise. 2. Customary or constant use; state of being used. "Obsolete words may be revived when they are more sounding or more significant than those in practice." (Dryden) 3. Systematic exercise for instruction or discipline; as, the troops are called out for practice; she neglected practice in music. 4. Application of science to the wants of men; the exercise of any profession; professional business; as, the practice of medicine or law; a large or lucrative practice. "Practice is exercise of an art, or the application of a science in life, which application is itself an art." (Sir W. Hamilton) 5. To do or perform frequently, customarily, or habitually; to make a practice of; as, to practice gaming. "Incline not my heart . . . Practice wicked works." 6. To exercise, or follow, as a profession, trade, art, etc, as, to practice law or medicine. 7. To perform certain acts frequently or customarily, either for instruction, profit, or amusement; as, to practice with the broadsword or with the rifle; to practice on the piano. Performance of an act one or more times, with a view to its fixation or improvement; any performance of an act or behaviour that leads to learning. 8. To learn by practice; to form a habit. "They shall practice how to live secure." (Milton) "Practice first over yourself to reign." (Waller) 9. To apply theoretical science or knowledge, especially. By way of experiment; to exercise or pursue an employment or profession, esp. That of medicine or of law. "[I am] little inclined to practice on others, and as little that others should practice on me." (Sir W. Temple) Origin: OE. Praktike, practique, F. Pratique, formerly also, practique, LL. Practica, fr. Gr, fr. Practical. See Practical, and cf. Pratique, Pretty. Source: Websters Dictionary (04 Jul 1999) |
| practice guideline | A set of directions or principles to assist the health care practitioner with patient care decisions about appropriate diagnostic, therapeutic, or other clinical procedures for specific clinical circumstances. Practice guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, organizations such as professional societies or governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. They can provide a foundation for assessing and evaluating the quality and effectiveness of health care in terms of measuring improved health, reduction of variation in services or procedures performed, and reduction of variation in outcomes of health care delivered. (12 Dec 1998) |
| practicer | 1. One who practices, or puts in practice; one who customarily performs certain acts. 2. One who exercises a profession; a practitioner. 3. One who uses art or stratagem. Origin: Often written practiser. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| practitioner | 1. One who is engaged in the actual use or exercise of any art or profession, particularly that of law or medicine. 2. One who does anything customarily or habitually. 3. A sly or artful person. General practitioner. See General. Origin: From Practician. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| practolol | <chemical> A beta-adrenergic antagonist that has been used in the emergency treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Pharmacological action: adrenergic beta-antagonists, anti-arrhythmia agents, sympatholytics. Chemical name: Acetamide, N-(4-(2-hydroxy-3-((1-methylethyl)amino)propoxy)phenyl)- (12 Dec 1998) |
| Prader, Andrea | <person> Swiss paediatrician, *1919. See: Prader-Willi syndrome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| prader-willi syndrome | <syndrome> A condition in children with floppiness (hypotonia), obesity, small hands and feet and mental retardation. It is due to loss of part or all of chromosome 15, specifcally the chromosome 15 from the father. The fat and red-faced boy in a state of somnolency described by charles dickens in his novel the pickwick papers is thought by some to have had prader-willi syndrome. (the same boy inspired the naming of the pickwickian syndrome). (12 Dec 1998) |
| praecava | <anatomy> The superior vena cava. Prae"caval. Origin: NL. See Pre-, and 1st Cave. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |