launch

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   begin with vigor

   They launched into a long diatribe.

2. 2
   verb

   smoothen the surface of

   launch plaster

3. 3
   verb

   propel with force

   launch the space shuttle

4. 4
   verb

   launch for the first time

   launch on a maiden voyage

5. 5
   verb

   To throw (a projectile such as a lance, dart or ball); to hurl; to propel with force.

   There they were met by four thousand Ha'apa'a warriors, who launched a volley of stones and spears[…]

6. 6
   verb

   To pierce with, or as with, a lance.

   And launch your hearts with lamentable wounds.

7. 7
   verb

   To cause (a vessel) to move or slide from the land or a larger vessel into the water; to set afloat.

   Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

8. 8
   verb

   To cause (a rocket, balloon, etc., or the payload thereof) to begin its flight upward from the ground.

   A cheap rocket that could launch military reconnaisance satellites for developing countries has become involved in a tangled web of Nazi rocket scientists, Penthouse magazine, KGB disinformation, and a treaty reminiscent of the height of colonialism in Africa.

Etymology

From Middle 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.