To execute means to carry out or accomplish something, especially according to a plan. When a basketball team executes a play perfectly, each player moves to the right spot at the right time, just as they practiced. When a pilot executes a landing, she performs all the careful steps needed to bring the plane safely to the ground.

The word suggests actually doing something and doing it well, completing what you set out to do. A student might have a great idea for a science project, but the real challenge is executing it, turning that idea into reality through careful work. Coaches often say that having a strategy isn't enough; you have to execute on the field.

In computer programming, when a program executes, it runs and performs its instructions. A computer executes commands one by one, following its code precisely.