From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishexecutionex‧e‧cu‧tion /ˌeksəˈkjuːʃən/ ●○○ noun 1 [countable, uncountable]SCCKILL when someone is killed, especially as a legal punishment a public execution The two men face execution (=they will be killed as a punishment). Torture and summary execution (=execution without a trial or any legal process) are common. He was granted a stay of execution (=delay in carrying out an execution).2 [uncountable] formalDO a process in which you do something that has been carefully planned SYN implementationexecution of the formulation and execution of urban policy3 [uncountable] law the process of making sure that the instructions in a legal document are followed the execution of a will4 [uncountable] formalPERFORM the performance of a difficult action or movement5 [uncountable] formalAVP the process of producing something such as a painting, film, book etc, or the way it is produced art that is unusual in design and execution6 [countable, uncountable] technical when you make a computer program work, or a command (=instruction) happenCOLLOCATIONSverbscarry out an executionThe order to carry out his execution was sent to the prison.hold an execution (=carry one out)The executions will be held later today.face execution (=be due to be killed)He is facing execution after being found guilty of murdering three women.await execution (=wait to be killed)The convicted men were moved to Virginia Penitentiary to await execution.an execution takes place (=it happens)In Elizabethan times, the execution of traitors took place on Tower Hill.adjectivesa public execution (=in a public place. with people watching)Bethea's hanging on August 14,1936 was the last public execution in America.a mock execution (=one in which people pretend they are going to kill someone)He had to endure torture and a mock execution.summary execution (=one that is done immediately, without a trial or any legal process)Protestors face summary execution.a mass execution (=one in which many people are killed at the same time)Eleven convicted murderers were hanged in what was the country's biggest ever mass execution.phrasesa stay of execution (=the official stopping or delay of an execution)He was granted a stay of execution by the Supreme Court.
Examples from the Corpus
execution• Many of Dali's paintings are witty in design and execution.• Davis' execution on his last jump was perfect.• Once those processes are specifically defined, disciplined execution is the next vital ingredient.• He had petitioned the court to stay his execution pending review.• Despite the disparity in execution the result is surprisingly similar.• The first recorded execution in the town's register is that of Richard Bentley of Sowerby on 20 March 1541.• Militants had also violated humanitarian standards with summary executions, kidnappings and assaults against civilians.• The execution has been delayed one month.• the execution of a search warrant• And it was just the same when it came to executions.summary execution• Much ill-feeling was vented out on former collaborators, many of whom faced summary execution before government authority was fully established.• Further macabre details of summary executions, including the use of dynamite to dismember prisoners, are expected to be released soon.• Their leaders outside the jails issue orders that have to be obeyed on pain of summary execution.• The conservatives and their newspapers took this occasion to denounce Arista for the summary execution of a political offender.• The results were fairly similar to 1967: two summary executions and one piece of major surgery.• Militants had also violated humanitarian standards with summary executions, kidnappings and assaults against civilians.execution of• Our office is responsible for the execution of the new marketing plan.