Link Centre Dictionary

execute

exe·cute

UK/ˈɛksɪˌkjuːt/ US/ˈɛɡzɪˌkjuːt/ fairly common

verb

1.

kill as a means of socially sanctioned punishment

  • “In some states, criminals are executed”
Synonyms
2.

murder execution-style

  • “The Mafioso who collaborated with the police was executed”
3.

put in effect

  • “carry out a task”
  • “execute the decision of the people”
  • “He actioned the operation”
Synonyms
4.

carry out the legalities of

  • “execute a will or a deed”
5.

carry out a process or program, as on a computer or a machine

  • “Run the dishwasher”
  • “run a new program on the Mac”
  • “the computer executed the instruction”
Synonyms
6.

carry out or perform an action

  • “John did the painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the gutters”
  • “the skater executed a triple pirouette”
  • “she did a little dance”
Synonyms
7.

sign in the presence of witnesses

  • “The President executed the treaty”

Origin

From Old French executer (French exécuter), from Latin exsecutus, past participle of exsequor (“to follow (up/through)”, particularly in the sense “to go through with a deed or punishment”), from ex- (“out”) + sequor (“to follow”).

Phrases

  • execute order

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.