launch

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[edit] English

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Old English launchen (“to throw as a lance”), Old French lanchier, another form of lancier, French lancer, from lance.

[edit] Verb

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 take off, propel with force
    • launch the space shuttle, launch a ship
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To strike with, or as with, a lance; to pierce.
  3. (transitive) To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat; as, to launch a ship.
    • (Can we date this quote?) With stays and cordage last he rigged the ship, And rolled on levers, launched her in the deep. - Alexander Pope
  4. (transitive) To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation.
    launch a son in the world
    launch a business project or enterprise.
    • (Can we date this quote?) All art is used to sink episcopacy, and launch presbytery in England. - Eikon Basilike
  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; as, to launch into the current of a stream; to launch into an argument or discussion; to launch into lavish expenditures.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. - Luke 5:4
      (Can we date this quote?) He [Spenser] launches out into very flowery paths. - Matthew Prior
    • 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.
[edit] Translations
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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[edit] Noun

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.)
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
act of launching
movement of a vessel from land into the water

[edit] Etymology 2

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

[edit] Noun

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.)
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
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

[edit] See also

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] References

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