launch

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A large ship's boat.
• noun A large, open motorboat.
• intransitive verb To throw or propel with force; hurl.
• intransitive verb To set or thrust (a self-propelled craft or projectile) in motion.
• intransitive verb Nautical To put (a boat) into the water in readiness for use.
• intransitive verb To set going; initiate: synonym: begin.
• intransitive verb To introduce to the public or to a market.
• intransitive verb To give (someone) a start, as in a career or vocation.
• intransitive verb To begin a new venture or phase; embark.
• intransitive verb To enter enthusiastically into something; plunge.
• noun The act of launching.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A sudden leap; a skip.
• noun The sliding or movement of a boat or vessel from the land into the water; more particularly, the sliding of a newly built ship from the stocks into the water, on ways prepared for the purpose.
• noun A large boat; specifically, the largest boat carried by a man-of-war, generally sloop-rigged and pulling from sixteen to twenty-two oars. A howitzer can be carried in the bow or the stern.
• noun A lancing.
• noun A trap used for taking eels, etc.
• To throw or hurl, as a lance; dart; let fly.
• To pierce or cut with or as with a lance or lancet; lance.
• To move or cause to slide from the land into the water: as, to launch a ship.
• To send out into another sphere of duty, another field of activity, or the like: as, to launch one on the world.
• Naut.:
• To lower suddenly on the fid (a topmast or topgallantmast which has been swayed up).
• To move (heavy bodies, as casks, spars, etc.) by pushing.
• To lay out or plant, as leeks, in trenches.
• To leap; skip.
• To move a ship from the land into the water.
• To move or come into new relations; enter upon a different course or career; make a transition: as, to launch into the world, or into a wide field of discussion: often with out: as, to launch out into extravagant expenditure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to make a beginning; ; -- often with out.
• noun The act of launching.
• noun The movement of a vessel from land into the water; especially, the sliding on ways from the stocks on which it is built.
• noun (Naut.) The boat of the largest size belonging to a ship of war; also, an open boat of any size driven by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like.
• noun (Naut.) See Way, n. (Naut.).
• intransitive verb To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly.
• intransitive verb obsolete To strike with, or as with, a lance; to pierce.
• intransitive verb To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat.
• intransitive verb To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun nautical 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".
• noun nautical A boat used to convey guests to and from a yaucht.
• noun nautical An open boat of any size powered by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like. (Compare Spanish lancha.)
• verb transitive To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly; to send off, propel with force.
• verb transitive, obsolete To pierce with, or as with, a lance.
• verb transitive To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat.
• verb transitive To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation.
• verb intransitive, often with out To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to make a beginning.
• noun The act of launching.
• noun 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.)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb set up or found
• verb begin with vigor
• verb launch for the first time; launch on a maiden voyage