launch
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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launches,
present (3rd person singular)
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launched,
past participle, past
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launching
present participle
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to set (a boat or ship) in the water.
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to float (a newly constructed boat or ship) usually by allowing to slide down inclined ways into the water.
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to send forth, catapult, or release, as a self-propelled vehicle or weapon.
Rockets were launched midway in the battle.
The submarine launched its torpedoes and dived rapidly.
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to start (a person) on a course, career, etc.
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to set going; initiate.
to launch a scheme.
- Synonyms:
- institute, inaugurate
-
to launch a spear.
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to start (a new venture) or promote (a new product).
They launched a new breakfast cereal.
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Computers. to start (a software program).
verb (used without object)
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launches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
launched,
past participle, past
-
launching
present participle
-
to burst out or plunge boldly or directly into action, speech, etc.
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to start out or forth; push out or put forth on the water.
noun
noun
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a heavy open or half-decked boat propelled by oars or by an engine.
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a large utility boat carried by a warship.
verb
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to move (a vessel) into the water
-
to move (a newly built vessel) into the water for the first time
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(tr)
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to start off or set in motion
to launch a scheme
-
to put (a new product) on the market
-
-
(tr) to propel with force
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to involve (oneself) totally and enthusiastically
to launch oneself into work
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(tr) to set (a missile, spacecraft, etc) into motion
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(tr) to catapult (an aircraft), as from the deck of an aircraft carrier
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to start talking or writing (about)
he launched into a story
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to start (out) on a fresh course
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informal to spend a lot of money
noun
noun
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a motor driven boat used chiefly as a transport boat
-
the largest of the boats of a man-of-war
Usage
Where does launch come from? Rocket ships and medieval knights wouldn’t seem like they have a lot in common. We launch rocket ships into outer space—something those old knights, trotting around on horseback and wielding their lances, could hardly have ever imagined. Launch entered English around 1300–50. Back then, launch meant “to rush, spring (into motion), send forth, hurl (a weapon).” Launch comes from French, which in turn comes from Late Latin lanceāre, “to wield a lance.” This verb, lanceāre, is based on the Latin noun lancea, “lance, spear.” The Latin lancea may ultimately come from an ancient Celtic word. As you’ve probably guessed, the Latin lancea is the ultimate source of the English lance, originally “a long wooden shaft with a pointed metal head, used as a weapon by knights and cavalry soldiers in charging.” Slightly older than the verb launch, lance entered English around 1250–1300. Now, the Late Latin verb lanceāre also yields (through French) the English verb lance. Today, that verb is mainly used for actions of piercing and making incisions—much finer and more careful cuts, thankfully, than resulted from a knight’s lance. But in the early 1300s, lance was effectively a synonym for launch, also meaning “to throw or hurl.”Dig deeperWhen did we start saying we launched such things as boats? That sense of launch is so far first evidenced, as it happens, during the heydey of knights launching lances. This sense of launch, meaning “to a set (a boat or ship) in the water,” is recorded in the Alliterative Morte Arthure, a remarkable poem about that legendary leader of knights, King Arthur, dated to around 1400. The basic, underlying sense of launch (“to send forth”) has inspired many other metaphorical extensions, from launching careers and launching products to book launches, campaign launches, and, by the time we entered the Space Age, rocket launches.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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launchsimple
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launchessimple
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have launchedperfect
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has launchedperfect
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am launchingprogressive
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are launchingprogressive
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is launchingprogressive
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have been launchingperfect progressive
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has been launchingperfect progressive
Past
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launchedsimple
-
had launchedperfect
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was launchingprogressive
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were launchingprogressive
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had been launchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of launch1
First recorded in 1300–50; late Middle English launche, from Anglo-French lancher, from Late Latin lanceāre “to wield a lance”; see lance 1
Origin of launch2
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Spanish, Portuguese lancha, earlier Portuguese lanchara, first attested in 1515 in an account of boats encountered near the Strait of Malacca; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Malay lancharan, derivative of lanchar “swift,” unless modern Malay lancha is from Portuguese
Explanation
To launch something is to propel it or get it going, usually from a standing position. You can launch a rocket, a career, a product or even a watermelon. Either way, you're getting it off the ground. Launch often means to start something, but to start it in a big way: "The launch of the shuttle was also the launch of a new era in space travel." Time was, when a singer finished making her record, the company would simply "release it." Eventually, though, that wasn't enough. Now a record needs "a launch" — a full-scale media blitz to get people excited enough to buy it.
Vocabulary lists containing launch
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 7
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At the launch of the game, Call of Duty's chief marketing officer, Tyler Bahl, told BBC Newsbeat: "We have to understand this is entertainment".
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
“I invested all of my $175,000 in personal savings to launch Solidcore and bootstrapped the company after that,” she revealed in an interview with the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Once the deal closes, PAG will launch a mandatory cash offer for the remaining shares of Evergrande Property Services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
But earlier this week, a controversial pilot program that would attach hundreds of license plate readers to streetlights around the city cleared the City Council, and it is expected to launch in the near future.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
At Baikonur Cosmodrome, Korolev’s team prepared another rocket for launch, ready to try again.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
The missiles flew about 250 kilometres, and "South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis of their exact specifications", Seoul's military said, adding it had stepped up surveillance of possible additional launches.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Side 2 launches with “Sunspot Baby,” a honky-tonk blues centered on a duplicitous girlfriend who bails on the protagonist, leaving him with a maxed-out credit card.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Harkening back to her time helping to run the midnight launches of the Harry Potter books, Jo decided to bring the same magic for fans of the much loved romantasy series.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Citi, however, keeps its buy rating, citing pipeline progress, including the ramp-up of its stroke drug Puyouke and new product launches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Abby is better at this than I am—she launches into a really detailed description of everyone’s costumes, while my mom brings over this epic plate of snacks from the counter.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
Since the Trump administration launched its crackdown on undocumented immigrants two years ago, the waiting room of Cuban-born immigration lawyer, Ismael Labrador, in Miami is never empty.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
The fund set out to raise one billion dollars a year for conservation in developing countries when it launched in early 2025.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
The central bank also has a bond-buying tool launched in 2022 amid a run on Italy’s bond market, known as the transmission protection instrument.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Kurth has participated in NASA's Juno mission since the spacecraft launched in 2011.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
We needed to know where and when the rocket had to be launched in order to put it on the right trajectory.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
He later won a scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School launching a career that would take him from Yorkshire to the world stage.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Amazon is launching its Prime Air drone delivery service in Tracy, Calif., in a month or less, the company said this week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Technology investors are increasingly launching so-called AI roll-ups, in which they buy and retrofit older businesses with AI to improve profits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Its rocket launching business, for which it’s best known, lost $1.2 billion on $3.3 billion in revenue, which might explain why Musk is talking up the future of AI rather than rockets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
After about five years as a member, he came up with the idea of going to New York City and launching a religious newspaper.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
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