ex ‧ e ‧ cu ‧ tion /ˌeksəˈkjuːʃ ə n, ˌeksɪˈkjuːʃ ə n/ BrE AmE noun
1 . [uncountable and countable] when someone is killed, especially as a legal punishment:
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] formal a process in which you do something that has been carefully planned SYN implementation
execution of
the formulation and execution of urban policy
3 . [uncountable] law the process of making sure that the instructions in a legal document are followed:
the execution of a will
4 . [uncountable] formal the performance of a difficult action or movement
5 . [uncountable] formal 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 execution
6 . [uncountable and countable] technical when you make a computer program work, or a ↑ command (=instruction) happen
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ carry out an execution
The 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.
■ adjectives
▪ a 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.
■ phrases
▪ a stay of execution (=the official stopping or delay of an execution)
He was granted a stay of execution by the Supreme Court.