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Launch vs Float - What's the difference?

launch | float |

As verbs the difference between launch and float

is that launch is to throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly; to send off, propel with force while float is (lb) of an object or substance, to be supported by a liquid of greater density than the object so as that part of the object or substance remains above the surface.

As nouns the difference between launch and float

is that launch is the act of launching or launch can be (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" while float is a buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.

launch

English

Alternative forms

* lanch (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) /Norman variant, compare Jèrriais lanchi ) of lancier, French lancer, from lance.

Verb

(es)
  • To throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly; to send off, propel with force.
  • * 2011 , Stephen Budiansky, Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815 , page 323
  • There they were met by four thousand Ha'apa'a warriors, who launched a volley of stones and spears
  • (obsolete) To pierce with, or as with, a lance.
  • * 1591 , (Edmund Spenser), The Teares of the Muses
  • And launch your hearts with lamentable wounds.
  • To cause to move or slide from the land into the water; to set afloat.
  • *
  • Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
  • * 1725–1726 , (Alexander Pope), Homer's Odyssey (translation), Book V
  • With stays and cordage last he rigged the ship, / And rolled on levers, launched her in the deep.
  • To send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation.
  • * 1649 , (Eikon Basilike)
  • All art is u?ed to ?ink Epi?copacy, & lanch Presbytery in England .
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=Here was my chance. I took the old man aside, and two or three glasses of Old Crow launched him into reminiscence.}}
  • * , chapter=13
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-09-07, volume=408, issue=8852, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Kill or cure , passage=On September 3rd Bionym, a Canadian firm, launched Nymi, a bracelet which detects the wearer’s heartbeat.}}
  • (often with out) To move with force and swiftness like a sliding from the stocks into the water; to plunge; to make a beginning.
  • * 1718 , (Matthew Prior), Solomon: On the Vanity of the World , Preface
  • In our language, Spen?er has not contented him?elf with this ?ubmi??ive manner of imitation : he launches out into very flowery paths
  • * 1969 , (Maya Angelou), I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , ch. 23:
  • My class was wearing butter-yellow pique dresses, and Momma launched out on mine. She smocked the yoke into tiny crisscrossing puckers, then shirred the rest of the bodice.
    Synonyms
    * (to pierce) lance, pierce

    Noun

    (es)
  • The act of launching.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.}}
  • 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.)
  • Derived terms
    * launching (as a noun) * launching ways

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Noun

    (es)
  • (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".
  • (nautical) A boat used to convey guests to and from a yaucht.
  • (nautical) An open boat of any size powered by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like. (Compare Spanish lancha .)
  • Derived terms
    *

    See also

    * barge * boat * * yacht

    Anagrams

    *

    float

    English

    (wikipedia float)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (lb) Of an object or substance, to be supported by a liquid of greater density than the object so as that part of the object or substance remains above the surface.
  • The boat floated on the water.
    The oil floated on the vinegar.
  • (lb) To cause something to be suspended in a liquid of greater density; as, to float a boat.
  • (lb) To be capable of floating.
  • That boat doesn’t float .
    Oil floats on vinegar.
  • (lb) To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating
  • I’d love to just float downstream.
  • (lb) To drift or wander aimlessly.
  • I’m not sure where they went... they’re floating around here somewhere.
    Images from my childhood floated through my mind.
  • (lb) To drift gently through the air.
  • The balloon floated off into the distance.
  • (lb) To move in a fluid manner.
  • The dancer floated gracefully around the stage.
  • (of an idea or scheme) To be viable.
  • That’s a daft idea... it’ll never float .
  • (lb) To propose (an idea) for consideration.
  • I floated the idea of free ice-cream on Fridays, but no one was interested.
  • (lb) To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.
  • (of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets as opposed to by rule.
  • The yen floats against the dollar.
  • To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.
  • The government floated the pound in January.
    Increased pressure on Thailand’s currency, the baht, in 1997 led to a crisis that forced the government to float the currency.
  • To extend a short-term loan to.
  • Could you float me $50 until payday?
  • To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.
  • * 2005 June 21, Dewi Cooke, (The Age) [http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/shoemaker-strides-for-world-domination/2005/06/20/1119250927926.html?from=moreStories],
  • He [Mario Moretti Polegato] floated the company on the Milan Stock Exchange last December and sold 29 per cent of its shares, mostly to American investors.
  • * 2007', Jonathan Reuvid, '''''Floating Your Company: The Essential Guide to Going Public .
  • * 2011 , Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Yearbook 2011: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security , footnote i, page 269,
  • As a result of this reverse acquisition, Hurlingham changed its name to Manroy plc and floated shares on the Alternative Investment Market in London.
  • (lb) To use a float (tool).
  • It is time to float this horse's teeth.
  • (lb) To perform a .
  • Derived terms

    * float someone's boat * whatever floats your boat

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
  • Attach the float and the weight to the fishing line, above the hook.
  • A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
  • A float board.
  • A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
  • A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster.
  • When pouring a new driveway, you can use a two-by-four as a float .
  • An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.
  • That float covered in roses is very pretty.
  • (lb) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
  • * 1913 ,
  • As soon as the skies brightened and plum-blossom was out, Paul drove off in the milkman's heavy float up to Willey Farm.
  • (lb) Funds committed to be paid but not yet paid.
  • Our bank does a nightly sweep of accounts, to adjust the float so we stay within our reserves limit.
  • An offering of shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, normally followed by a listing on a stock exchange.
  • 2006', ''You don't actually need a broker to buy shares in a '''float when a company is about to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.'' — financial tips article, ''Buying shares in a float [http://www.fido.asic.gov.au/fido/fido.nsf/print/Buying+shares+in+a+float?opendocument]
  • (lb) The total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.
  • No sir, your current float is not taken into account, when assets are legally garnished.
  • (lb) Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.
  • We make a lot of interest from our nightly float .
  • (lb) A floating-point number.
  • That routine should not have used an int; it should be a float .
  • A soft beverage with a scoop of ice-cream floating in it.
  • It's true - I don't consider anything other than root-beer with vanilla ice-cream to be a "real" float .
  • A small sum of money put in a cashier's till at the start of business to enable change to be made.
  • (lb) A maneuver where a player calls on the flop or turn with a weak hand, with the intention of after a subsequent community card.
  • (lb) One of the loose ends of yarn on an unfinished work.
  • (lb) a car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination
  • (lb) a lowboy trailer
  • (lb) A device sending a copious stream of water to the heated surface of a bulky object, such as an anvil or die.
  • (Knight)
  • (lb) The act of flowing; flux; flow.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep.
  • (Mortimer)
  • A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.
  • (Knight)
  • A coal cart.
  • (Simmonds)

    Synonyms

    * initial public offering

    Derived terms

    * floatplane