Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To throw or propel with force; hurl.
  • intransitive verb To set or thrust (a self-propelled craft or projectile) in motion.
  • intransitive verb Nautical To put (a boat) into the water in readiness for use.
  • intransitive verb To set going; initiate: synonym: begin.
  • intransitive verb To introduce to the public or to a market.
  • intransitive verb To give (someone) a start, as in a career or vocation.
  • intransitive verb To begin a new venture or phase; embark.
  • intransitive verb To enter enthusiastically into something; plunge.
  • noun The act of launching.
  • noun A large ship's boat.
  • noun A large, open motorboat.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A sudden leap; a skip.
  • noun 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.
  • noun 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.
  • noun A lancing.
  • noun A trap used for taking eels, etc.
  • To throw or hurl, as a lance; dart; let fly.
  • To pierce or cut with or as with a lance or lancet; lance.
  • To move or cause to slide from the land into the water: as, to launch a ship.
  • To send out into another sphere of duty, another field of activity, or the like: as, to launch one on the world.
  • Naut.:
  • To lower suddenly on the fid (a topmast or topgallantmast which has been swayed up).
  • To move (heavy bodies, as casks, spars, etc.) by pushing.
  • To lay out or plant, as leeks, in trenches.
  • To leap; skip.
  • To move a ship from the land into the water.
  • 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.

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

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

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

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

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

  • verb set up or found
  • verb begin with vigor
  • verb launch for the first time; launch on a maiden voyage

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English launchen, from Old North French lancher, from Latin lanceāre, to wield a lance, from lancea, lance; see lance.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably alteration (probably influenced by launch) of Malay lancha.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Portuguese lancha ("barge, launch"), apparently from Malay lancar ("quick, agile"). Spelling influenced by the verb above.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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.

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Examples

  • The label launch will be celebrated with a party from 3-6pm on Thursday, March 19th at GSD&M advertising agency and an official SXSW showcase on Friday, March 20th at Maggie Mae's Gibson room.

    Austin360 - XL Headlines 2009

  • And the centre-piece of the launch is a major new report on Climate Change Impacts in the US.

    2009 June 17 | Serendipity 2009

  • And the centre-piece of the launch is a major new report on Climate Change Impacts in the US.

    Suddenly, the US gets it | Serendipity 2009

  • And the centre-piece of the launch is a major new report on Climate Change Impacts in the US.

    2009 June | Serendipity 2009

  • Hope the launch is a blast and the book sells heaps of copies (I will be promoting it big-time when it comes to NZ later this year). cheers

    Short launch lili 2008

  • The north also said that any attempt to intercept what it calls the launch of a communications satellite, but what the outside world believes is a long-range missile, would lead to an all-out war.

    CNN Transcript Mar 9, 2009 2009

  • If any one of those particular sensors fail, it's what they call a launch commit criteria violation.

    CNN Transcript Jul 14, 2005 2005

  • As I was able to complete the first half of Zombie Tycoon in an hour or two, I would have preferred to see this title launch at a lower price.

    AskMen.com - HOME PAGE 2009

  • "I am delighted to be launching F1 ROCKS ™ in Singapore and very pleased to have Singapore as our inaugural event and LG Electronics as our title launch sponsor," said Paul Morrison, CEO

    www.hardwarezone.com.sg panda_hippo 2009

  • What I found when pitting the two against each other in launch time is that, while the Mobile Safari took significantly longer to launch from a cold start — that is, after having rebooted my iPhone entirely — it apparently resides in the iPhone’s system memory from that point forward, meaning subsequent launches are nearly instantaneous.

    Browser Speed Tests: iPhone’s Mobile Safari Vs Opera Mini | Lifehacker Australia 2010

Comments

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  • see whaleboat for a usage note.

    May 1, 2008