executive branch

American  

[ig-zek-yuh-tiv branch] / ɪgˈzɛk jə tɪv ˌbræntʃ /

noun

executive branches plural

1. the branch of government charged with the execution and enforcement of laws and policies and the administration of public affairs; the executive.

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executive branch Cultural  

1. The branch of federal and state government that is broadly responsible for implementing, supporting, and enforcing the laws made by the legislative branch and interpreted by the judicial branch. At the state level, the executive includes governors and their staffs. At the federal level, the executive includes the president, the vice president, staffs of appointed advisers (including the cabinet), and a variety of departments and agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Postal Service (see postmaster general). The executive branch also proposes a great deal of legislation to Congress and appoints federal judges, including justices of the Supreme Court. Although the executive branch guides the nation's domestic and foreign policies, the system of checks and balances works to limit its power.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• executive branches
  plural

Etymology

Origin of executive branch

First recorded in 1710–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

executive branch

But amendments like the 14th, as well as prior Supreme Court decisions, have worked to expand the Constitution’s reach should the executive branch seek to enforce them.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the European Commission, the body’s executive branch, said the commission had “expressed concerns” about both the project and the environmental impacts of an Albanian law meant to attract large investors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

The geopolitical bottleneck has a clearance condition: a stable, predictable export framework that both the executive branch and Congress are willing to enforce consistently.

From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026

In contrast to all other members of the executive branch, the federal criminal conflict of interest statute doesn’t apply to the president and vice president, nor to members of Congress, Painter said.

From Barron's ● May 19, 2026

And his conduct in providing clandestine instructions to Adams’s cabinet undermined the constitutional authority of the executive branch in ways that would have landed him in jail in modern times.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• bureau
• department