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Launch vs Pursue - What's the difference?

launch | pursue |

In lang=en terms the difference between launch and pursue

is that launch is to send out; to start (one) on a career; to set going; to give a start to (something); to put in operation while pursue is to participate in (an activity, business etc); to practise, follow (a profession).

As verbs the difference between launch and pursue

is that launch is to throw, as a lance or dart; to hurl; to let fly; to send off, propel with force while pursue is (obsolete|transitive) to follow with harmful intent; to try to harm, to persecute, torment.

As a noun 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".

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

    *

    References

    English ergative verbs

    pursue

    English

    Verb

    (pursu)
  • (obsolete) To follow with harmful intent; to try to harm, to persecute, torment.
  • To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.
  • * Wyclif Bible, John xv. 20
    • The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have pursued' me, they shall ' pursue you also.
  • * 2009 , Martin Chulov, ‘Iraqi shoe-thrower claims he suffered torture in jail’, The Guardian , 15 Sep 09:
    • He now feared for his life, and believed US intelligence agents would pursue him.
  • To follow, travel down (a particular way, course of action etc.).
    • Her rival pursued a quite different course.
  • To aim for, go after (a specified objective, situation etc.).
  • * 2009 , Benjamin Pogrund, ‘Freeze won't hurt Netanyahu’, The Guardian , 1 Dec 09:
    • He even stands to gain in world terms: his noisy critics strengthen his projected image of a man determined to pursue peace with Palestinians.
  • To participate in (an activity, business etc.); to practise, follow (a profession).

    • See also

    * follow * chase