launch1
  
  v.
   - set (a boat or ship) afloat, especially by sliding it into the water.
 - send (a rocket, missile, etc.) on its course. 
▸hurl forcefully.
 ▸
(launch into)
 begin (something) energetically and enthusiastically.
 - begin (an enterprise) or introduce (a new product).
 
n.
 an act or instance of launching something.
 
  Etymology
  ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr. launcher, var. of OFr. lancier (see lance).
 
  
    
launch2
  
  n.
  - a large motorboat.
 - historical the largest boat carried on a man-of-war.
 
 
  Etymology
  C17: from Sp. lancha ‘pinnace’, perh. from Malay lancharan, from lanchar ‘swift, nimble’.