Meaning & use

execute

verb·Academic

To carry out or put into effect a plan, order, or course of action.

See it in a sentence

The team executed the rescue plan flawlessly despite the difficult weather conditions outside.

She executed a perfect dive, earning the highest score of the competition that day.

A note on using this word

Execute suggests skillful or precise completion of a plan; it also has a distinct legal sense meaning to put someone to death.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Another way to use it

2. verb

To kill someone as a legal punishment for a crime.

The prisoner was executed at dawn after years spent on death row.

Make it your own

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