Definition of: execute

(ek′sə·kyt) v.t. ·cut·ed, ·cut·ing
1. To do or carry out fully: to execute an order.
2. To put in force; administer, as a law.
3. To put to death by legal sentence.
4. Law To make legal or valid by fulfilling all requirements of law.
5. To do or perform, as a maneuver or a musical work.
6. To produce, as according to a preconceived plan or design: to execute a portrait in oils. [<L executus, var. of exsecutus, pp. of exsequi <ex- out + sequi follow]
—ex′e·cut′a·ble adjective
—ex′e·cut′er noun Synonyms: administer, do, enforce, perform. To execute, is to follow through to the end, put into absolute and final effect in action; to administer is to conduct as one holding a trust, as a minister and not an originator; the sheriff executes a writ; the trustee administers an estate, a charity, etc.; to enforce is to put into effect by force, actual or potential. To administer the laws is the province of a court of justice; to execute or enforce the laws is the province of a sheriff, marshal, constable, or other executive officer; to administer the law is to declare or apply it; to execute the law is to put it in force; for this enforce is the more general word, execute the more specific. Administer passes by a natural transition to signify inflict, dispense, and blows, medicine, etc., are said to be administered. Enforce signifies also to present and urge home by intellectual and moral force; as, to enforce a precept or a duty. Compare ACCOMPLISH, EFFECT, KILL, MAKE.