executioner
executioner — noun
- executionersingular
- executionersplural
1. a person whose official job is to kill someone the courts have ordered to die, u
a person whose official job is to kill someone the courts have ordered to die, usually as part of a criminal punishment in a country that still uses the death penalty.
The medieval executioner wore a black hood to hide his face from the crowd in the square.
definite-article + adjective + noun for historical setting
Sirin's history teacher explained how an executioner was paid extra for each beheading in 17th-century London.
indefinite-article 'an executioner' in a generalising statement
The state's executioner pressed the button that delivered the lethal injection at one minute past midnight.
Few villagers were willing to act as the town's executioner, so the post often passed from father to son.
Ryo's new novel is told from the point of view of a 19th-century executioner.
文法句型
the executioner of [someone]
用法筆記
Subject of action verbs like 'carry out', 'perform', 'refuse'. Often paired with the specific method as a modifier or follow-up (the masked executioner, the state's executioner, axe / firing-squad / lethal-injection executioner).