three-eight-hotel wrote:

when would you actually be considered in "actual" conditions,

When your flight conditions do not meet the ceiling, visibility and cloud
clearance requirements for visual flight rules.

and when
would you actually be considered cleared under IFR?

When you hear 'cleared to...' from ATC

I'm thrown off by
the word "practice", and probably because that's all I've ever done?
I've been on a filed IFR flight plan, but have never requested a pop-up
clearance or flown into actual IMC. If you request "practice"
approaches in the described conditions, you will actually be in IMC at
some point, so does your "practice" clearance now grant you the
privileges to fly into IMC?

The word practice is usually used in conjuntion with executing instrument
approaches under VFR. To fly under VFR, your flight conditions have to meet the
minimum ceiling, visibility, and cloud clearance requirements of VFR.

I'd sugggest not using the word "practice" when you're not VFR. AFAIK there is
no legal reason not to, but it might trick ATC into mistakenly thinking you are VFR.

You are granted the privelege of flying into IMC when you hear the words
"cleared to...".

Dave