LAUNCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does launch mean? 

• LAUNCH (noun)
  The noun LAUNCH has 2 senses:

1. a motorboat with an open deck or a half deck

2. the act of propelling with force

  Familiarity information: LAUNCH used as a noun is rare.

• LAUNCH (verb)
  The verb LAUNCH has 6 senses:

1. set up or found

2. propel with force

3. launch for the first time; launch on a maiden voyage

4. begin with vigor

5. get going; give impetus to

6. smoothen the surface of

  Familiarity information: LAUNCH used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LAUNCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A motorboat with an open deck or a half deck

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("launch" is a kind of...):

motorboat; powerboat (a boat propelled by an internal-combustion engine)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of propelling with force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

launch; launching

Hypernyms ("launch" is a kind of...):

actuation; propulsion (the act of propelling)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "launch"):

rocket firing; rocket launching (the launching of a rocket or missile under its own power)

Derivation:

launch (propel with force)

launch (launch for the first time; launch on a maiden voyage)

• LAUNCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they launch    ... he / she / it launches   
Past simple: launched   
Past participle: launched   
-ing form: launching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Set up or found

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

establish; found; launch; set up

Context example:

She set up a literacy program

Hypernyms (to "launch" is one way to...):

open; open up (start to operate or function or cause to start operating or functioning)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Propel with force

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

Launch a ship

Hypernyms (to "launch" is one way to...):

impel; propel (cause to move forward with force)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "launch"):

float (put into the water)

blast off (launch with great force)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

launch (the act of propelling with force)

launcher (a device that launches aircraft from a warship)

launcher (armament in the form of a device capable of launching a rocket)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Launch for the first time; launch on a maiden voyage

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

launch a ship

Hypernyms (to "launch" is one way to...):

launch; set in motion (get going; give impetus to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

launch (the act of propelling with force)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Begin with vigor

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

launch; plunge

Context example:

She plunged into a dangerous adventure

Hypernyms (to "launch" is one way to...):

begin; commence; get; get down; set about; set out; start; start out (take the first step or steps in carrying out an action)

Verb group:

plunge (dash violently or with great speed or impetuosity)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Get going; give impetus to

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

launch; set in motion

Context example:

Her actions set in motion a complicated judicial process

Hypernyms (to "launch" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "launch"):

launch (launch for the first time; launch on a maiden voyage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Smoothen the surface of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

launch plaster

Hypernyms (to "launch" is one way to...):

smooth; smoothen (make smooth or smoother, as if by rubbing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

“One of them dare-devil launches,” he said.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A research team from the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, launched a search for noninvasive biomarkers to diagnose prostate cancer and predict whether it’s likely to spread.

(Biomarker Signatures of Prostate Cancer, NIH)

You may see your creative project launch, or you may be invited to give a speech or workshop.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

To-day we heard of the launch having been detained by an accident when trying to force a way up the rapids.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Dawn launched in 2007 and is scheduled to enter Ceres orbit in March 2015.

(Dawn Spacecraft Begins Approach to Dwarf Planet Ceres, NASA)

It also plans next year to launch a spacecraft headed to Mars.

(SpaceX Completes Successful Rocket Launch, VOA News)

There was a very important study launched in 1998 for which we have not yet received the results.

(Health threats caused by mobile phone radiation, EUROPARL TV)

Again the rope was attached and he was launched, and again he struck out, but this time straight into the stream.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The game is expected to be launched at the end of October.

(Brazilian professor creates mobile game that combines fun with mathematics, Agência Brasil)

Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched 16 days apart in 1977.

(Sun sends more 'tsunami waves' to Voyager 1, NASA)