launch
/lɔːnt͡ʃ/ verb, noun
Forms launches launching launched launcht lanch
- verb (transitive) To throw (a projectile such as a lance, dart or ball); to hurl; to propel with force.
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To pierce with, or as with, a lance.
- verb (transitive) To cause (a vessel) to move or slide from the land or a larger vessel into the water; to set afloat. “The navy launched another ship.”
- verb (transitive) To cause (a rocket, balloon, etc., or the payload thereof) to begin its flight upward from the ground. “NASA launched several unmanned rockets before launching any of the Mercury astronauts.”
- verb (transitive) To send out; to start (someone) on a mission or project; to give a start to (something); to put in operation “Our business launched a new project.”
- verb (transitive, computing) To start (a program or feature); to execute or bring into operation. “Double-click an icon to launch the associated application.”
- verb (transitive) To release; to put onto the market for sale
- verb (intransitive) Of a ship, rocket, balloon, etc.: to depart on a voyage; to take off.
- noun The movement of a vessel from land into the water; especially, the sliding on ways from the stocks on which it is built. (Compare: to splash a ship.)
- noun The act or fact of launching (a ship/vessel, a project, a new book, etc.).
- noun An event held to celebrate the launch of a ship/vessel, project, a new book, etc.; a launch party. “product launch”
- noun (nautical) The boat of the largest size and/or of most importance belonging to a ship of war, and often called the "captain's boat" or "captain's launch".
- noun (nautical) A boat used to convey guests to and from a yacht.
- noun (nautical) An open boat of any size powered by steam, petrol, electricity, etc.
Synonyms
fling hurl bung cast chuck chunk cook dash dump feck jerk heave hield hoy huck hurtle lob peck peg pick launching establish set up found plunge set in motion
Etymology
From Middle English launchen (“to throw as a lance”), Old French lanchier, another form (Old Northern French/Norman variant, compare Jèrriais lanchi) of lancier, French lancer, from lance.
From Portuguese lancha (“barge, launch”), apparently from Malay lancar (“quick, agile”). Spelling influenced by the verb above.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly.
- verb To strike with, or as with, a lance; to pierce. [Obs.]
- verb To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to make a beginning; as, to launch into the current of a stream; to launch into an argument or discussion; to launch into lavish expenditures; --often with out. Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. Luke v. 4.
- noun The act of launching.
Etymology [OE. launchen to throw as a lance, OF. lanchier, another form of lancier, F. lancer, fr. lance lance. See Lance.]
Etymology [Cf. Sp. lancha.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “launch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details