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Launching

 - 4 dictionary results

launch

1[lawnch, lahnch]
–verb (used with object)
1. to set (a boat or ship) in the water.
2. to float (a newly constructed boat or ship) usually by allowing to slide down inclined ways into the water.
3. to send forth, catapult, or release, as a self-propelled vehicle or weapon: Rockets were launched midway in the battle. The submarine launched its torpedoes and dived rapidly.
4. to start (a person) on a course, career, etc.
5. to set going; initiate: to launch a scheme.
6. to throw; hurl: to launch a spear.
7. to start (a new venture) or promote (a new product): They launched a new breakfast cereal.
8. Computers. to start (a software program).
–verb (used without object)
9. to burst out or plunge boldly or directly into action, speech, etc.
10. to start out or forth; push out or put forth on the water.
–noun
11. the act of launching.

Origin:
1300–50; late ME launche < AF lancher < LL lanceāre to wield a lance; see lance 1


launch⋅a⋅ble, adjective


5. inaugurate, institute.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Launching
launch 1   (lônch, länch)   
v.   launched, launch·ing, launch·es

v.   tr.
    1. To throw or propel with force; hurl: launch a spear.

    2. To set or thrust (a self-propelled craft or projectile) in motion: launch a rocket; launch a torpedo.

  1. Nautical To put (a boat) into the water in readiness for use.

  2. To set going; initiate: launch a career; launch a business venture.

  3. To introduce to the public or to a market: launched the new perfume with prime-time commercials on the major networks.

  4. To give (someone) a start, as in a career or vocation.

v.   intr.
  1. To begin a new venture or phase; embark: launch forth on a dangerous mission; launched out on her own after college.

  2. To enter enthusiastically into something; plunge: launched into a description of the movie.

n.  The act of launching.

[Middle English launchen, from Old North French lancher, from Latin lanceāre, to wield a lance, from lancea, lance; see lance.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
launch (one's lunch)

  1. tv. & in.
    to empty one's stomach; to vomit. : When I saw that mess, I almost launched my lunch.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

launch  (v.)
c.1300, from O.N.Fr. lancher (O.Fr. lancier) "to fling, hurl, throw, cast," from L.L. lanceare "wield a lance," from L. lancea "light spear" (see lance). Sense of "set (a boat) afloat" first recorded c.1400, from notion of throwing it out on the water; generalized by 1600 to "any sort of beginning."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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