# launch

Pronunciation: say "LAWNCH" US /lɔnt͡ʃ/, UK /lɔːnt͡ʃ/

## Verb

1. To set something in motion, such as a mission, project, or initiative, or to start someone on it.
   - Simple: To start something new, like a plan or a project.
   - _The mayor plans to launch an effort to reduce downtown traffic._
   - _The nonprofit launched a fundraising drive over the weekend._
2. To release a new product and make it available to the public, usually for sale.
   - Simple: To start offering a new product to people, usually for them to buy.
   - _The startup plans to launch its app in several countries at once._
   - _Publishers launched the new edition just before the holidays._
4. To send a rocket, balloon, or its payload into flight.
   - Simple: To send a rocket or balloon up into the sky.
   - _The agency plans to launch a communications satellite next month._
   - _Technicians launched the probe on a path toward Mars._
5. To move a vessel from land or a larger ship into the water and set it afloat.
   - Simple: To put a boat or ship into the water.
   - _The shipyard will launch the freighter once repairs are finished._
   - _Sailors launched the lifeboat from the side of the ship._
6. To start a computer program or app so that it begins running, or (of a program) to start running.
   - Simple: To start a computer program or app, or for a program to start running.
   - _Double-click the file to launch the photo editor._
   - _The system launches the backup tool automatically each night._
7. To hurl or propel a projectile with force.
   - Simple: To throw something hard and fast through the air.
   - _The catapult can launch a heavy stone right over the wall._
   - _He launched the javelin farther than anyone expected._
8. To move forward with sudden force and speed; to plunge or begin energetically.
   - Simple: To start doing something suddenly and with energy, or to rush forward with force.
   - _The dancers launch into the routine without a moment's hesitation._
   - _He launched into a long speech about his travels._
9. Of a ship, rocket, or balloon itself, to set off on a voyage or leave the ground and rise into the air.
   - Simple: To take off or set out, the way a rocket or ship does.
   - _The spacecraft will launch from the coastal pad before noon._
   - _The balloons launched into a clear morning sky._

## Noun

3. The act or occasion of launching something, such as sending a ship into the water, a rocket into space, or a new product, book, or project to the public, often marked by a special event.
   - Simple: The time when something is launched, such as a ship, a rocket, or a new product, often with a special event.
   - _The product launch attracted a lot of media attention._
   - _The company timed the launch to coincide with the holidays._
10. An open boat of any size driven by steam, gasoline, electricity or another power source, including one that carries guests to and from a yacht.
   - Simple: An open boat with an engine, of any size, for example one that takes people to and from a bigger boat.
   - _The harbor launch ferried workers out to the dredger each morning._
   - _An electric launch glided quietly along the narrow canal._

## Verb

11. To pierce with a lance, or as if with one. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To stab or pierce someone or something with a spear, or as if with one.

## Other meanings

- (noun) The largest or most important boat belonging to a warship, often called the captain's launch.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–9, 11** — From Middle English launchen, meaning 'to throw as a lance', from Old French lanchier, a Norman variant of lancier (modern French lancer), which comes from lance.
**Meaning 10** — Portuguese lancha ('barge, launch') is the source, and it seemingly goes back to Malay lancar ('quick, agile'); the English spelling was shaped by the verb launch meaning 'to throw'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/launch (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).