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executioner

[ek-si-kyoo-shuh-ner]
See more synonyms for executioner on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an official who inflicts capital punishment in pursuance of a legal warrant.
  2. a person who executes an act, will, judgment, etc.
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Origin of executioner

First recorded in 1555–65; execution + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

killergarroterstranglerlyncher

Examples from the Web for executioner

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Executioner of thy country, read the decree of thy punishment!

    Zanoni

    Edward Bulwer Lytton

  • “Oh, by a new method, which I have invented myself,” declared the Executioner.

  • St. Bartholomew and the Executioner with the knife to fulfil the martyr.

    A Tramp Abroad, Complete

    Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

  • Lafemas looked at the Governor, and the Governor at the Executioner, and so round.

    Richelieu, v. 2/3

    G. P. R. James

  • For what's the object of being an Executioner if one can't execute?

British Dictionary definitions for executioner

executioner

noun
  1. an official charged with carrying out the death sentence passed upon a condemned person
  2. an assassin, esp one appointed by a political or criminal organization
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for executioner

n.

"headsman," 1560s; "one who carries into effect," 1590s; agent noun from execution.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper