From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishexecuteex‧e‧cute /ˈeksəkjuːt/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 1 kill somebodySCCKILL to kill someone, especially legally as a punishmentexecute somebody for something Thousands have been executed for political crimes. 13 people were summarily executed (=killed without any trial or legal process) by the guerrillas.► see thesaurus at kill2 do something formalDO to do something that has been carefully planned SYN implement The job involves drawing up and executing a plan of nursing care.3 perform an action formalDO to perform a difficult action or movementbeautifully/skilfully/poorly etc executed The skaters’ routine was perfectly executed.4 computer technical if a computer executes a program or command (=instruction), it makes the program or command happen or work5 legal document lawSCLMX to make sure that the instructions in a legal document are followed6 produce something formalAVP to produce a painting, book, film etc a boldly executed story→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
execute• According to police sources, many of the dead were civilians who had been tortured before being executed.• Hundreds of officers were arrested, tortured and executed.• The goal of landing people on Mars will not be an easy one to execute.• The show's dance routines were well executed.• The two young men spent 6 months in jail waiting to be executed.• Making it happen means involving the hearts and minds of those who have to execute and deliver.• This is a backward and cruel society, in which people are executed for homosexuality and adultery.• California has executed four San Quentin inmates since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978, the last two by lethal injection.• No federal prisoner has been executed in 37 years.• King Charles I was executed on 30th January 1649.• In any event, surveying becomes a much more complicated business and much more difficult to execute satisfactorily.• This program automatically executes the commands once a day.• Franklin is in charge of executing the company's reorganization plan.• The school board, stymied, asked the federal court for an exemption from contempt proceedings for not executing the court order.• We will not be able to execute the programs without more funding.• Brock's attorney has yet to execute the will.• The directors make the decisions, but it's the managers who have to execute them.summarily executed• In fact he was summarily executed.beautifully/skilfully/poorly etc executed• Their spree of corporate takeovers is, for the most part, wildly ill-advised and poorly executed.• There were hardly any well known names; the recently purchased Simon Vouet is very poorly executed.• Balto G A beautifully executed, edge-of-your-seat exciting animated adventure.• They were just movies that didn't come together - poorly executed, I guess.• There is an occasional poorly executed sketch of a tiny organism or of a bone and muscle structure.From Longman Business Dictionaryexecuteex‧e‧cute /ˈeksəkjuːt/ verb [transitive]1to do what is written in a contract, plan etcThe directors make the decisions but the managers have to execute them.UK companies with a proven management ability to execute a business plan2COMPUTING when a computer executes a program or command (=instruction), it makes the program or command workTo make it easier, you can create a shell script to execute the program and invoke that. —execution noun [uncountable]the solicitor’s execution of the will→ See Verb tableOrigin execute (1300-1400) French exécuter, from Latin exsecutus, past participle of exsequi “to execute”, from sequi “to follow” 