launcher

English

Etymology tree

English launch

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-os?

Proto-Indo-European *-o-

Proto-Indo-European *-so-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-āsijos

Proto-Italic *-āsios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English launcher

From launch + -er.

launcher (plural launchers)

One who or that which launches. A device that throws something or the person who initiates a launch.
The catapult made a good launcher for the small projectile.

They shot down the helicopter with a rocket launcher.
- 2015, H. Clark Barrett, The Shape of Thought: How Mental Adaptations Evolve, page 110:
  This actually occurs in perception of non-colliding Michotte displays: Even though there is a gap between the launcher stopping and the launchee starting, the launchee's motion appears to have been caused, at a distance, by the approach of the launcher […]
(computing) An application that launches another or others, often holding icons or menus for frequently used programs.

a device that throws something

computing: an application that launches another or others