launch

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Contents

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old 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.

Verb[edit]

launch (third-person singular simple present launches, present participle launching, simple past and past participle launched)

  1. (transitive) To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly; to send off, propel with force.
    • 2011, Stephen Budiansky, Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815, page 323
      There they were met by four thousand Ha'apa'a warriors, who launched a volley of stones and spears […]
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To pierce with, or as with, a lance.
    • 1591, Edmund Spenser, The Teares of the Muses
      And launch your hearts with lamentable wounds.
  3. (transitive) To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat.
    The navy launched another ship.
  4. (transitive) To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation.
    Our business launched a new project.
    Double-click an icon to launch the associated application.
    • 1649, Eikon Basilike
      All art is uſed to ſink Epiſcopacy, & lanch Presbytery in England.
  5. (intransitive, often with out) To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to make a beginning.
    to launch into an argument or discussion
    to launch into lavish expenditures
    • 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon: On the Vanity of the World, Preface
      In our language, Spenſer has not contented himſelf with this ſubmiſſive manner of imitation : he launches out into very flowery paths […]
    • 1969, Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, ch. 23:
      My class was wearing butter-yellow pique dresses, and Momma launched out on mine. She smocked the yoke into tiny crisscrossing puckers, then shirred the rest of the bodice.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
throw, hurl, let fly, propel with force
strike with, or as with, a lance; to pierce
cause to move or slide from the land into the water
send out; start on a career; set going; give a start to; put in operation
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Noun[edit]

launch (plural launches)

  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. (Compare: to splash a ship.)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
act of launching
movement of a vessel from land into the water

Etymology 2[edit]

From Portuguese lancha (“barge, launch”), apparently from Malay lancar (“quick, agile”). Spelling influenced by the verb above.[1]

Noun[edit]

launch (plural launches)

  1. (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".
  2. (nautical) A boat used to convey guests to and from a yaucht.
  3. (nautical) An open boat of any size powered by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like. (Compare Spanish lancha.)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
boat of the largest size belonging to a ship of war
A boat used to convey guests to and from a yaucht
An open boat of any size powered by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “launch” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
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