Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To put into effect; carry out.
- transitive verb To perform; do: synonym: perform.
- transitive verb To create (a work of art, for example) in accordance with a prescribed design.
- transitive verb To make valid, as by signing.
- transitive verb To perform or carry out what is required by.
- transitive verb To put to death, especially by carrying out a lawful sentence.
- transitive verb Computers To run (a program or instruction).
from The Century Dictionary.
- Executed; accomplished.
- To follow out or through to the end; perform completely, as something projected, prescribed, or ordered; carry into complete effect; accomplish: as, to
execute a purpose, plan, design, or scheme. - To perform or do: as, to
execute a difficult gymnastic feat; to execute a piece of music. - In law: To complete and give validity to, as a legal instrument, by performing whatever is required by law to be done, as by signing and sealing, attestation, authentication, etc.: as, to
execute a deed or lease. - To perform or carry out fully, as the conditions of a deed, contract, etc.
- To give effect to; put in force; enforce; as, to
execute law or justice; to execute a writ; to execute judgment or vengeance. - To perform judgment or sentence on; specifically, to inflict capital punishment on; put to death in accordance with law or the sentence of a court: as, to
execute a traitor. - Hence To put to death; kill; do to death.
- To carry out or accomplish a course of action, a purpose, or a plan; produce an effect or result aimed at.
- To perform a piece of music: as, he executes well.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb rare To do one's work; to act one's part or purpose.
- intransitive verb To perform musically.
- transitive verb To follow out or through to the end; to carry out into complete effect; to complete; to finish; to effect; to perform.
- transitive verb To complete, as a legal instrument; to perform what is required to give validity to, as by signing and perhaps sealing and delivering
- transitive verb To give effect to; to do what is provided or required by; to perform the requirements or stipulations of.
- transitive verb To infect capital punishment on; to put to death in conformity to a legal sentence.
- transitive verb obsolete To put to death illegally; to kill.
- transitive verb (Mus.) To perform, as a piece of music or other feat of skill, whether on an instrument or with the voice, or in any other manner requiring physical activity.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To kill as punishment for
capital crimes . - verb transitive To carry out; to put into effect.
- verb transitive To begin putting into effect.
- verb transitive To cause to become legally valid; as, to execute a
contract . - verb transitive, computing To start,
launch orrun ; as, to execute aprogram .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb carry out a process or program, as on a computer or a machine
- verb murder in a planned fashion
- verb sign in the presence of witnesses
- verb carry out or perform an action
- verb put in effect
- verb kill as a means of socially sanctioned punishment
- verb carry out the legalities of
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The back end Job Queue will call that to execute the functionality that is defined in this class in the abstract method, called _execute ().
Zend Developer Zone (DevZone) - Advancing the art of PHP 2010
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Sure, the possibility that madam president finds out about Tyrol's origins and then wants to execute is a possibility, but certainly not the only one.
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Then he left out the word execute the second time he did it.
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His power to execute is limited by what laws Congress provides him.
Think Progress » Justice Department Lawyer To Congress: ‘The President Is Always Right’ 2006
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(Cannot come looking for the tech) #8 Kevin said, “Anytime we fail to execute is the biggest risk by far” Kevin B. Rollins, so lousy customer support must be part of executing a plan at Dell.
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The machines that carry his name execute long mechanical chain reactions to accomplish very simple tasks like lighting a fire cracker.
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- you redefined the word execute and took it out of the context of a legal government action.
legitgov 2009
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Some liberals have become even too crazy for Texas to execute, which is a damn shame.
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Some liberals have become even too crazy for Texas to execute, which is a damn shame.
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Some liberals have become even too crazy for Texas to execute, which is a damn shame.
oroboros commented on the word execute
Contronymic in the sense of create vs. destroy.
January 9, 2007
82times commented on the word execute
Actual quote from an email at work yesterday:
"Let's get executed."
The person, of course, meant "let us execute the plan we have discussed" but I can't help but think there is something under the surface. Oh, the quiet desperation of CUBE LIFE.
June 20, 2009
wordlover42 commented on the word execute
"Let's get executed" !? Umm, suicidal much?
June 20, 2009
bilby commented on the word execute
*headdesk*
June 20, 2009
bilby commented on the word execute
I'm a bit perplexed by the use of against here. At best it's redundant, at worst confusing.
"On behalf of the Board and executive management I thank you for your continued support as we continue executing against our growth and product strategy at CardieX.
...
I look forward to reporting our progress against these objectives to you over the coming year and I thank you as always for your continuing support as we execute against our vision for your Company."
- Craig Cooper, CEO, Managing Director, & Co-Founder of CardieX Limited, letter to shareholders 26-02-2021.
March 29, 2021
ry commented on the word execute
I think two nonstandard usages are conspiring to create confusion there. First the intransitive execute, and second against in a sense vaguely like "with reference to". Both characteristic of American corpspeak in the tens.
I think one of the standard meanings of against, "in comparison with," (as in "checking the cargo against the manifest") has undergone a semantic shift to give rise to this newfangled meaning.
April 1, 2021