Launch

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: lônch, IPA: /lɔːntʃ/
• some accents enPR: länch, IPA: /lɑːntʃ/
• US enPR: lônch, IPA: /lÉ”ntʃ/
• cot-caught IPA: /lÉ’ntʃ/
• cot-caught IPA: /lÉ‘ntʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɔːntʃ, -É’ntʃ

Alternative forms

• lanch obsolete

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.

Full definition of launch

Verb

1. (transitive) To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly; to send off, propel with force.
• 2011, Stephen Budiansky, Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815, page 323There they were met by four thousand Ha'apa'a warriors, who launched a volley of stones and spears...
2. (transitive, obsolete) To pierce with, or as with, a lance.
• 1591, Edmund Spenser, The Teares of the MusesAnd launch your hearts with lamentable wounds.
3. (transitive) To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat.
• Authorized Version|Luke|5|4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
• 1725–1726, Alexander Pope, Homer's Odyssey (translation), Book VWith stays and cordage last he rigged the ship,
  And rolled on levers, launched her in the deep.
4. The navy launched another ship.
5. (transitive) To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation.
• 1649, Eikon BasilikeAll art is uÅ¿ed to Å¿ink EpiÅ¿copacy, & lanch Presbytery in England.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 2, Here was my chance. I took the old man aside, and two or three glasses of Old Crow launched him into reminiscence.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 13, “… They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.
• 2013-09-07, Kill or cure, On September 3rd Bionym, a Canadian firm, launched Nymi, a bracelet which detects the wearer’s heartbeat.
6. Our business launched a new project.   Double-click an icon to launch the associated application.
7. (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.
• 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon: On the Vanity of the World, PrefaceIn our language, SpenÅ¿er has not contented himÅ¿elf with this Å¿ubmiÅ¿Å¿ive manner of imitation : he launches out into very flowery paths...
• 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.
8. to launch into an argument or discussion;  to launch into lavish expenditures

Synonyms

• (to pierce) lance, pierce

Noun

1. The act of launching.
• 2013-07-20, The attack of the MOOCs, Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.
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.)

Derived terms

• launching as a noun
• launching ways

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

Online_Etymology_Dictionary

Noun

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.)

Derived terms

• captain’s launch

Anagrams

• nuchal