Definition of "practically"

It is true that the Articles of the [Argentine] Constitution promise fair conditions under which to live; but, unfortunately, the self-same Constitution, in the hands of unscrupulous administrators, becomes so elastic as to be practically a dead letter.

1893, C. E. Akers, “The Argentine Position”, in Argentine, Patagonian, and Chilian Sketches, with a Few Notes on Uruguay.‎, London: Harrison and Sons, page 12

If the ranchero had practically all the water near him, he had also practically all the cattle, […]

1898, E[merson] Hough, “The Round-Up”, in The Story of the Cowboy‎, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 153

The turnip is one of the lordliest vegetables in the world; its broth is practically a soup in itself.

1969, Robert Farrar Capon, “Living Water”, in The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection