launching

verb

present participle of launch
1
as in establishing
to be responsible for the creation and early operation or use of after retiring, he launched a small company devoted to making medical devices

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in beginning
to take the first step in (a process or course of action) she launched a career in journalism after quitting acting school

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in throwing
to send through the air especially with a quick forward motion of the arm infantrymen launching grenades at the nest of machine gunners

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of launching Senate Republicans’ top super PAC is making a tactical change, pausing its ad campaign in North Carolina’s Senate race and launching a new one in Kansas. — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026 Rough Draft is launching a newsletter and print edition in Athens, bolstering the amount of dedicated local reporting in Georgia’s sixth-largest city. — Savannah Sicurella, AJC.com, 2 Oct. 2026 The sins of 2003 were not merely in launching a war but also in how the story was told and masked. — Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026 With two outs in the bottom of the 8th down 3-2, third baseman Austin Riley delivered, launching a game-changing homer to give Atlanta a 5-3 lead. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026 For beauty founders, launching your brand in retail stores carries symbolic weight. — Rhea Cartwright, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026 Once upon a time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was in Paramount’s hands, having a distribution deal with the comic-book label and launching the megaverse with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Iron Man 2. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026 Two months before launching Dots, OpenAI disclosed that models in a cybersecurity test had gained unauthorized access to Hugging Face’s infrastructure, with safeguards intentionally disabled for the test. — Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026 Combined, the carrier strike groups would include nearly 20,000 troops, up to 150 fighter jets and numerous destroyers capable of launching and fending off missile attacks. — Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for launching
  1. establishing
  2. beginning
  3. throwing
  4. founding
  5. commencing
  6. hurling
  7. initiating
  8. starting
Verb
  • In my view, the government must get ahead of that curve by establishing a full-fledged Department of AI, rather than leaving it to a single individual.
    — Yerbol Orynbayev, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The Trojans beat South Grand Prairie 24-17, establishing themselves as the 8-6A team to beat.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of establishing
Verb
  • Young professionals often have multiple financial priorities, such as beginning to invest, paying off student loans, employee benefits, buying a first home, and saving for a wedding or starting a family.
    — Kate Dore, CFP®, EA,Kelli Grant, CFP®, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Korean star Han Ji-min accepted The Hollywood Reporter’s Trailblazer Award at a glitzy gala high above Busan on Wednesday night, promising that her creative journey was only just beginning.
    — Mathew Scott, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of beginning
Verb
  • Throwing safety to the winds could be throwing civilization into the trash.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The pitching matchup sees Dustin May, a midseason acquisition, throwing for the Brewers.
    — OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of throwing
Verb
  • The founding mayors lead cities including Atlanta, Jacksonville, Boise, Tulsa and Memphis -- governing more than 7 million Americans across 11 red and purple states, according to a memo for the new coalition.
    — Isabella Murray, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
  • By naming the product of two mergers Skydance, David Ellison relegates two of Hollywood’s founding studios to a sub-brand stew and attempts to erase a bunch of controversial hires.
    — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of founding
Verb
  • The film will shoot on location at the heart of Pendle in Lancashire, with principal photography commencing end of September.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The fourth-round tie will not be played until the week commencing October 26.
    — Simon Johnson, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of commencing
Verb
  • Last year, Schlittler delivered an all-time coming-of-age moment as a rookie in his postseason debut, hurling eight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts against the Red Sox in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the Wild Card Series.
    — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • But the ritual has increasingly gotten out of hand, culminating with someone hurling a chair into the crowd during the group’s performance last week in Charlotte, North Carolina, and reportedly sending one fan to the hospital.
    — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of hurling
Verb
  • According to the complaint, officers first spotted Garces-Perez's vehicle outside a restaurant, ran its license plate and confirmed that an immigration judge had issued a final order of removal against him before initiating the stop.
    — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
  • In today’s information rich environment, investors have more opportunities than ever to compare firms before initiating a conversation.
    — Ramesh Tambe, Forbes.com, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of initiating
Verb
  • And starting next year, the league wants to introduce a form of re-seeding in the playoffs.
    — Evan Drellich, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Katseye member Sophia Laforteza will resume activities with the group starting the first week of January 2027, according to a notice posted to their social media accounts.
    — Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of starting

Browse Nearby Words

launches
launching
launchpad
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Launching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/launching. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All