From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary EnglishRelated topics: Painting and drawing, Computersexecutionex‧e‧cu‧tion /ˌeksəˈkjuːʃən/ ●○○ noun1[countable, uncountable]SCCKILL when someone is killed, especially as a legalpunishment
a public execution
The two men face execution (=they will be killed as a punishment).
Torture and summary execution (=execution without a trial or any legal process) are common.
He was granted a stay of execution (=delay in carrying out an execution).2[uncountable] formalDO a process in which you do something that has been carefully plannedSYN implementationexecution of
the formulation and execution of urban policy3[uncountable] law the process of making sure that the instructions in a legal document are followed
the execution of a will4[uncountable] formalPERFORM the performance of a difficult action or movement5[uncountable] formalAVP the process of producing something such as a painting, film, book etc, or the way it is produced
art that is unusual in design and execution6[countable, uncountable] technical when you make a computer program work, or a command (=instruction) happenCOLLOCATIONSverbscarry out an executionThe order to carry out his execution was sent to the prison.hold an execution (=carry one out)The executions will be held later today.face execution (=be due to be killed)He is facing execution after being found guilty of murdering three women.await execution (=wait to be killed)The convicted men were moved to Virginia Penitentiary to await execution.an execution takes place (=it happens)In Elizabethan times, the execution of traitors took place on Tower Hill.adjectivesa public execution (=in a public place. with people watching)Bethea's hanging on August 14,1936 was the last public execution in America.a mock execution (=one in which people pretend they are going to kill someone)He had to endure torture and a mock execution.summary execution (=one that is done immediately, without a trial or any legal process)Protestors face summary execution.a mass execution (=one in which many people are killed at the same time)Eleven convicted murderers were hanged in what was the country's biggest ever mass execution.phrasesa stay of execution (=the official stopping or delay of an execution)He was granted a stay of execution by the Supreme Court.Examples from the Corpusexecution• Many of Dali's paintings are witty in design and execution.• Davis' execution on his last jump was perfect.• Once those processes are specifically defined, disciplinedexecution is the next vitalingredient.• He had petitioned the court to stay his execution pending review.• Despite the disparity in execution the result is surprisingly similar.• The first recordedexecution in the town's register is that of Richard Bentley of Sowerby on 20 March 1541.• The execution has been delayed one month.• the execution of a searchwarrant• And it was just the same when it came to executions.summary execution• Much ill-feeling was vented out on formercollaborators, many of whom faced summary execution before government authority was fully established.• Their leadersoutside the jailsissue orders that have to be obeyed on pain of summary execution.• The conservatives and their newspapers took this occasion to denounce Arista for the summary execution of a political offender.• The results were fairly similar to 1967: two summary executions and one piece of majorsurgery.execution of• Our office is responsible for the execution of the new marketing plan.
