launch

UK/lɔːnt͡ʃ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/loːnt͡ʃ/

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

Verb

launch (third-person singular simple present launches, present participle launching, simple past and past participle launched or (obsolete) launcht)

(transitive) 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[…]2011, Stephen Budiansky, Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815, page 323
Synonyms:

fling, hurl, bung, cast, chuck, chunk, cook, dash, dump, feck
(obsolete, transitive) To pierce with, or as with, a lance.
- And launch your hearts with lamentable wounds.1591, Edmund Spenser, The Teares of the Muses
Synonyms:

lance, pierce
(transitive) 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.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 5:4
- With stays and cordage last he rigged the ship, / And rolled on levers, launched her in the deep.1725–1726, Alexander Pope, Homer's Odyssey (translation), Book V
(transitive) 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.1978, Farooq Hussain, “Volksraketen for the Third World”, in New Scientist
- NASA launched several unmanned rockets before launching any of the Mercury astronauts.
(transitive) To send out; to start (someone) on a mission or project; to give a start to (something); to put in operation
- Our business launched a new project.
- All art is uſed to ſink Epiſcopacy, & lanch Presbytery in England.1649, Eikon Basilike
(transitive) To start (a program or feature); to execute or bring into operation.
- Double-click an icon to launch the associated application.
- If the game does not automatically launch, select Disney Cory in the House from the DS launch screen.2008, “Getting Started”, in Cory in the House: Instruction Booklet, Burbank, California: Disney Interactive Studios; Nintendo, page 4
(transitive) To release; to put onto the market for sale
- On September 3rd Bionym, a Canadian firm, launched Nymi, a bracelet which detects the wearer’s heartbeat.2013 September 7, “Kill or cure”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852
(intransitive) Of a ship, rocket, balloon, etc.: to depart on a voyage; to take off.
(intransitive, often) To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to begin.
- In our language, Spenſer has not contented himſelf with this ſubmiſſive manner of imitation : he launches out into very flowery paths[…]1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon: On the Vanity of the World, Preface
- 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.1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 23, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
(intransitive) To start to operate.
- After clicking the icon, the application will launch.

Noun (1)

launch (plural launches)

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.)
The act or fact of launching (a ship/vessel, a project, a new book, etc.).
- 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...2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
- The initial awards will give $316 million to SpaceX for one launch and $337 million to ULA for two launches. […] Military officials did not say exactly how many launches that might enetail^([sic]), nor did they provide a total contract value.2020 August 7, Jackie Wattles, “SpaceX and ULA win military launch competition worth $653 million – and that’s just the start”, in CNN Business
An event held to celebrate the launch of a ship/vessel, project, a new book, etc.; a launch party.
- product launch
- book launch

Noun (2)

launch (plural launches)

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".
A boat used to convey guests to and from a yacht.
An open boat of any size powered by steam, petrol, electricity, etc.

launch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

launch in Hindi

throw, hurl, let fly, propel with force: फेंकना phẽknā
to start (a program or feature): प्रमोचन pramocan
movement of a vessel from land into the water: जलावतरण jalāvatraṇ
act of launching: प्रमोचन pramocan, विमोचन vimocan

launch in Tamil

பாய்ச்சுதல், தொடங்குதல், ஏவு, ஏவுதல், விடுகை, ஏவுகை

launch in Marathi

प्रक्षेपण

launch in Urdu

to launch: اچھالنا uchālnā

More languagesFewer languages

launch in Bengali: আরম্ভ, চালু করা, নিক্ষেপ, প্রবৃত্ত হওয়া
launch in Telugu: లాంచీ lāñcī
launch in Malayalam: ചുഴറ്റി എറിയുക, സമാരംഭിക്കുക, വിക്ഷേപിക്കുക
launch in Kannada: ಹೊರತರಿವಿಕೆ, ಹೊರಬಿಡುವಿಕೆ, ನೌಕೆಯನ್ನು ಸಮುದ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಿಡುವುದು, ಮೋಟಾರು ದೋಣಿ
launch in Punjabi: ਲਾਂਚਿੰਗ
launch in Nepali: प्रक्षेपण
launch in Arabic: أَطْلَقَ ʔaṭlaqa, قَذَفَ qaḏafa
launch in Malay: melancarkan
launch in Indonesian: menjalankan, meluncurkan
launch in Persian: لنج lanj, بارکاس bârkâs

Examples of launch in a sentence

The navy launched another ship.
to launch into an argument or discussion
to launch into lavish expenditures
I took the old man aside, and two or three glasses of Old Crow launched him into reminiscence.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
“[…] 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.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
Then, at an appointed time, Baron Harkonnen will return to Arrakis and launch a sneak attack on House Atreides.1984, 8:38 from the start, in Dune (Science Fiction), →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with launch

Synonyms of launch

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of launch

Forms of launch

Verb
third-person singular present	launches
present participle	launching
past participle	launched
past	launched
past participle (obsolete)	launcht
past (obsolete)	launcht
alternative form (obsolete)	lanch
Noun
plural	launches

Past tense of launch: launched

Plural of launch: launches

Origin of launch

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.

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

Words formed from launch

Phrases with launch

5 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with launch

Questions about launch

What does launch mean?: Launch means to throw (a projectile such as a lance, dart or ball); to hurl; to propel with force.
What is launch in Hindi?: Launch in Hindi is फेंकना (phẽknā), प्रमोचन (pramocan), जलावतरण (jalāvatraṇ). See Launch meaning in Hindi.
How do you use launch in a sentence?: The navy launched another ship.
What part of speech is launch?: Launch can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce launch?: Launch is pronounced /lɔːnt͡ʃ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of launch?: The past tense of launch is launched.

Words near launch in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: launch (page history and authors); launch (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); launch (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); اچھالنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); launch (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); launch (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); launch (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); launch (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); launch (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-launch.ogg.

Cite this entry: “launch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/launch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.