launch

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To throw or propel with force; hurl: launch a spear.
2. v. To set or thrust (a self-propelled craft or projectile) in motion: launch a rocket; launch a torpedo.
3. v. Nautical To put (a boat) into the water in readiness for use.
4. v. To set going; initiate: launch a career; launch a business venture.
5. v. To introduce to the public or to a market: launched the new perfume with prime-time commercials on the major networks.
6. v. To give (someone) a start, as in a career or vocation.
7. v. To begin a new venture or phase; embark: launch forth on a dangerous mission; launched out on her own after college.
8. v. To enter enthusiastically into something; plunge: launched into a description of the movie.
9. n. The act of launching.
10. n. A large ship's boat.
11. n. A large, open motorboat.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To throw or hurl, as a lance; dart; let fly.
2. To pierce or cut with or as with a lance or lancet; lance.
3. To move or cause to slide from the land into the water: as, to launch a ship.
4. To send out into another sphere of duty, another field of activity, or the like: as, to launch one on the world.
5. Naut.:
6. To lower suddenly on the fid (a topmast or topgallantmast which has been swayed up).
7. To move (heavy bodies, as casks, spars, etc.) by pushing.
8. To lay out or plant, as leeks, in trenches.
9. To leap; skip.
10. To move a ship from the land into the water.
11. To move or come into new relations; enter upon a different course or career; make a transition: as, to launch into the world, or into a wide field of discussion: often with out: as, to launch out into extravagant expenditure.
12. n. A sudden leap; a skip.
13. n. The sliding or movement of a boat or vessel from the land into the water; more particularly, the sliding of a newly built ship from the stocks into the water, on ways prepared for the purpose.
14. n. A large boat; specifically, the largest boat carried by a man-of-war, generally sloop-rigged and pulling from sixteen to twenty-two oars. A howitzer can be carried in the bow or the stern.
15. n. A lancing.
16. n. A trap used for taking eels, etc.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly; to send off, propel with force.
2. v. transitive, obsolete To pierce with, or as with, a lance.
3. v. transitive To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat.
4. v. transitive To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation.
5. v. 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.
6. n. The act of launching.
7. n. 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.)
8. n. 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".
9. n. nautical A boat used to convey guests to and from a yaucht.
10. n. nautical An open boat of any size powered by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like. (Compare Spanish lancha.)

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly.
2. v. obsolete To strike with, or as with, a lance; to pierce.
3. v. To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat.
4. v. To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation
5. v. To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to make a beginning; ; -- often with out.
6. n. The act of launching.
7. n. The movement of a vessel from land into the water; especially, the sliding on ways from the stocks on which it is built.
8. n. (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.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. set up or found
2. v. begin with vigor
3. v. launch for the first time; launch on a maiden voyage
4. v. propel with force
5. n. a motorboat with an open deck or a half deck
6. v. smoothen the surface of
7. v. get going; give impetus to
8. n. the act of propelling with force