executive order

noun

: regulation sense 2b

Examples of executive order in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

He's done executive orders to increase seafood production in this country. —Dan Morrison, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025

All the deals follow an executive order in May, and letters sent to 17 pharmaceutical companies over the summer to push them to lower prices voluntarily. —NPR, 6 Nov. 2025

Trump revived the initiative through an executive order in May after unsuccessfully pursuing it during his first term. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr, NBC news, 6 Nov. 2025

The research was used to support Truman’s 1948 executive order and the integration of the armed forces in the Korean War. —Time, 5 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1862, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for executive order

• boarder
• border
• corder
• warder
• camcorder
• disorder
• recorder
• reorder
• suborder
• transborder

Legal Definition

executive order

noun

: an order issued by a government's executive on the basis of authority specifically granted to the executive branch (as by the U.S. Constitution or a congressional act)

the National Security Agency was created by an executive order

compare proclamation, statute

Note: An executive order from the president does not have the force of law until it is printed in the Federal Register.