[ex.e.cu.tion] n [ME, fr. MF, fr. L exsecution-, exsecutio, fr. exsequi to execute, fr. ex- + sequi to follow--more at sue] (14c) 1: the act or process of executing: performance
2: a putting to death esp. as a legal penalty
3: the process of enforcing a legal judgment (as against a debtor); also: a judicial writ directing such enforcement
4: the act or mode or result of performance
5. archaic: effective or destructive action "his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody ~ --Shak."--usu. used with do "as soon as day came, we went out to see what ~ we had done --Daniel Defoe"