Implement means to put a plan or decision into action. When your teacher implements a new classroom rule about raising hands before speaking, she's making that rule actually happen instead of just talking about it. When a city implements a recycling program, officials move beyond planning meetings to actually put bins on streets and arrange collection trucks.

The word captures that crucial step between having an idea and making it real. Your soccer team might spend weeks developing a new strategy, but you only implement it when you actually use it in a game. A school might vote to implement a buddy system for new students, meaning they're ready to match up students and start the program.

Implementation is the noun form: the carrying out of a plan. The implementation of a new school schedule might take weeks of preparation. Good ideas matter, but implementation determines whether they actually help anyone.

The word can also be a noun meaning a tool or piece of equipment, especially one used for a specific purpose. A rake is a gardening implement. A whisk is a cooking implement. This older meaning is less common, but you'll still see it, especially in farming or historical contexts where people discuss agricultural implements or writing implements like quills and inkwells.