catapult

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Any of various military machines used for hurling missiles, such as large stones or spears, in ancient and medieval times.
• noun A mechanism for launching aircraft at a speed sufficient for flight, as from the deck of a carrier.
• noun A slingshot.
• intransitive verb To hurl or launch from a catapult.
• intransitive verb To hurl or launch by means other than a catapult.
• intransitive verb To bring suddenly into prominence.
• intransitive verb To be catapulted or hurled.
• intransitive verb To jump or spring.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To hurl, as a missile, as from a catapult.
• To shoot at with a catapult: as, to catapult birds.
• To use a catapult in hurling missiles.
• noun In Roman antiquity, a military engine used to throw darts of great size, called phalarica or trifax.
• noun A small forked stick to each prong of which is attached an elastic band, generally provided with a piece of leather in the middle, used by boys for throwing small missiles, such as stones, peas, paper pellets, and the like.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Mil. Antiq.) An engine somewhat resembling a massive crossbow, used by the ancient Greeks and Romans for throwing stones, arrows, spears, etc.
• noun A forked stick with elastic band for throwing small stones, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A device or weapon for throwing or launching large objects, such as a mechanical aid on aircraft carriers designed to help airplanes take off from the flight deck.
• noun UK slingshot
• noun An instance of firing a missile from a catapult.
• noun figuratively An instance of firing something, as if from a catapult.
• verb transitive To fire a missile from a catapult.
• verb transitive To fire or launch something, as if from a catapult.
• verb transitive To increase the status of something rapidly.
• verb intransitive To be fired from a catapult or as if from a catapult.
• verb intransitive To have one's status increased rapidly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb shoot forth or launch, as if from a catapult
• noun a device that launches aircraft from a warship
• verb hurl as if with a sling
• noun an engine that provided medieval artillery used during sieges; a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles
• noun a plaything consisting of a Y-shaped stick with elastic between the arms; used to propel small stones