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Glite Dictionary
🚀 Starting something 🛳️ Putting in water
launching

launching

2 4.2
To put a new ship into the water for the first time
  • noun
  • /ˈlɔːnʧɪŋ/
translation icon : botadura
  • I switch you over to our microphone near the bow of the ship so that you may hear the actual launching.
  • the launching of the SS

Examples

  • I have a long letter from Dave Henderson, with pictures of the launching of his new boat, Triunfador III.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Within eight months of its launching, the SS John Hammond hit an enemy mine off the coast of Elba, Italy.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The launching of a ship in a time of war is always a solemn occasion.

    Saboteur (1942)

  • We've decided to dedicate the launching of the great Adship to his memory.

    Mutant Aliens (2002)

  • PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): This crowd, gathered at the J. A. Jones Construction Company in Brunswick, was probably on hand for the launching of a ship.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The last Brunswick ship lost in the war was the SS Charles C. Randleman; it was damaged beyond repair just five months after its launching while in the Philippines in August 1945.

    Academic text (2009)

  • Courtesy of the Navy Department, we are now able to take you to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where over a national hook-up we will endeavor to bring you a description of the actual launching ceremony of the Navy's capital ship, the USS Alaska.

    Saboteur (1942)

  • With the launching of the SS Louis M. Godey, just thirty-eight days after keel laying, Southeastern completed the last ship of the thirty-six vessels contracted by 1943.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The launching of the new research vessel was celebrated with a traditional ceremony attended by officials and scientists.

  • Everyone gathered at the harbor for the launching of the sailing yacht, marking its official entry into the water.

Antonyms

to decommission
  • Formal
22 6.5

To officially take a ship, factory, or machine out of use

Compounds

launching pad
  • Specialized
4 4.4

A strong platform that rockets or spacecraft use to start their flight

launching site
  • Specialized
1 5.4

A place with machines to send rockets or satellites into space

rocket launching
  • Specialized
1 3.7

Sending a rocket into the sky using its own engines

How Ceremonial

christening
22 5.5
launching
2 4.2
commissioning
  • Formal
3 6.0

Surface Forms

launching singular
launchings plural

Morphology

launching = launch (transparent) = launch + ing

Nominalization from the verb 'launch' denoting the action of launching (here specifically launching a ship into water); the relation to the verb is clear.

Etymology

Launching comes from an old word meaning 'to throw', so people imagined 'pushing' or 'sending' a new ship into the water the same way. That's why the launching of a ship is the special ceremony when the boat goes into the sea for the first time.