launch definition | Dictionary.com

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

Related forms:

launch⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
5. inaugurate, institute.

launch

2 [lawnch, lahnch]

–noun

1.	a heavy open or half-decked boat propelled by oars or by an engine.

2.	a large utility boat carried by a warship.

Origin:
1690–1700; < Sp, Pg lancha, earlier Pg lanchara, first attested in 1515 in an account of boats encountered near the Strait of Malacca; of unclear orig.; neither Malay lancar “swift” nor Rom outcomes of LL lanceāre (see launch ¹ ) are fully convincing as sources; mod. Malay lanca is < Pg

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To launch

launch¹ (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.
Nautical To put (a boat) into the water in readiness for use.
To set going; initiate: launch a career; launch a business venture.
To introduce to the public or to a market: launched the new perfume with prime-time commercials on the major networks.
To give (someone) a start, as in a career or vocation.

v. intr.

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

launch² (lônch, länch)

A large ship's boat.
A large, open motorboat.

[Probably alteration (probably influenced by launch¹) of Malay lancha.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Launch

Launch\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Launched; p. pr. & vb. n. Launching.] [OE. launchen to throw as a lance, OF. lanchier, another form of lancier, F. lancer, fr. lance lance. See Lance.] [Written also lanch.]

1. To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly.

2. To strike with, or as with, a lance; to pierce. [Obs.]

Launch your hearts with lamentable wounds. --Spenser.

3. To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat; as, to launch a ship.

With stays and cordage last he rigged the ship, And rolled on levers, launched her in the deep. --Pope.

4. To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation; as, to launch a son in the world; to launch a business project or enterprise.

All art is used to sink episcopacy, and launch presbytery in England. --Eikon Basilike.

Launch

Launch\, v. i. 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.

He [Spenser] launches out into very flowery paths. --Prior.

Launch

Launch\, n. 1. The act of launching.

2. The movement of a vessel from land into the water; especially, the sliding on ways from the stocks on which it is built.

3. [Cf. Sp. lancha.] (Naut.) The boat of the largest size belonging to a ship of war; also, an open boat of any size driven by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like.

Launching ways. (Naut.) See Way, n. (Naut.).

Language Translation for : launch

Spanish: botar, echar al mar,

German: ins Wasser lassen, abschießen,

Japanese: 発射する

More Translations »

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."

launch (n.)

"large boat carried on a warship," 1697, from Port. lancha "barge, launch," apparently from Malay lancharan, from lanchar "quick, agile;" Eng. spelling infl. by launch (v.).

launch

largest of a ship's boats, at one time sloop-rigged and often armed, such as those used in the Mediterranean Sea during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although present-day launches can travel under sail or by oar, most are power-driven. Because of their weight, they are seldom used by merchant ships but are often deployed as armed craft from warships. Launches are capable of carrying large numbers of men and are also useful for transporting anchors, cannons, and other heavy objects.

Learn more about launch with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source

Search another word or see launch on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us