- 1[usually passive] execute somebody (for something) to kill somebody, especially as a legal punishment He was executed for treason. The prisoners were executed by firing squad. Wordfinderattackalert, assassinate, attack, campaign, execute, extremist, hijack, hostage, kidnap, terrorism Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbsummarily, illegally, publicly, … prepositionas, for See full entry See related entries: Types of punishment, Terrorism
- 2execute something (formal) to do a piece of work, perform a duty, put a plan into action, etc. They drew up and executed a plan to reduce fuel consumption. The crime was very cleverly executed. Check that the computer has executed your commands. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbbeautifully, boldly, brilliantly, … phrasesduly executed See full entry
- 3execute something (formal) to successfully perform a skilful action or movement The pilot executed a perfect landing. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbbeautifully, boldly, brilliantly, … phrasesduly executed See full entry
- 4execute something (formal) to make or produce a work of art Picasso also executed several landscapes at Horta de San Juan. See related entries: Describing art
- 5execute something (law) to follow the instructions in a legal document; to make a document legally valid His will was executed by his lawyers in 2008. Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French executer, from medieval Latin executare, from Latin exsequi ‘follow up, punish’, from ex- ‘out’ + sequi ‘follow’.Extra examples I swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States. The agreement had been duly executed. The movement was beautifully executed. The second goal was superbly executed. The testator made a valid will, duly executed with the assistance of solicitors in 1998. a carefully executed and well-presented study innocent people who are wrongly executed He was ultimately executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001. The album contains beautifully executed songs such as ‘Can’t Explain’. The show was cleverly conceived and splendidly executed. a series of perfectly executed pirouettes to execute something beautifully/boldly/brilliantly/cleanly/meticulously/neatly/skilfully/successfully/well
execute
verbBrE BrE//ˈeksɪkjuːt//; NAmE NAmE//ˈeksɪkjuːt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they execute BrE BrE//ˈeksɪkjuːt//; NAmE NAmE//ˈeksɪkjuːt//
he / she / it executes BrE BrE//ˈeksɪkjuːts//; NAmE NAmE//ˈeksɪkjuːts//
past simple executed BrE BrE//ˈeksɪkjuːtɪd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈeksɪkjuːtɪd//
past participle executed BrE BrE//ˈeksɪkjuːtɪd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈeksɪkjuːtɪd//
-ing form executing BrE BrE//ˈeksɪkjuːtɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈeksɪkjuːtɪŋ//
Types of punishment, Describing art, TerrorismCheck pronunciation: execute
