Word.ws English Dictionary

summary execution

summary execution noun: an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial.

Noun

summary execution (plural summary executions)

  1. An execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial.
    • It was a wonder that he had not been a victim of the ferocious and summary executions which marked the course of that tyranny; for Guzman had ruled the country with the sombre imbecility of political fanaticism.1904 January 29 – October 7, Joseph Conrad, Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard, London; New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], published 1904, →OCLC
    • The Tribune demanded a quick trial and summary execution, calling on the prospective jury manfully to do its duty and dwelling at length on the moral effect that would be so produced upon the lawless working class.1913 October, Jack London, The Valley of the Moon, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC

Forms of summary execution

pluralsummary executions

Questions about summary execution

What does summary execution mean?
Summary execution means an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial.
What part of speech is summary execution?
Summary execution is a noun.
What is the plural of summary execution?
The plural of summary execution is summary executions.

Words near summary execution in the dictionary

  1. summary court-martial
  2. summary court-martials
  3. summary diligence
  4. summary dismissal
  5. summary dismissals
  6. summary execution
  7. summary executions
  8. summary judgment
  9. summary judgments
  10. summary jurisdiction
  11. summary offence

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: summary execution (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “summary execution.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/summary_execution. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.