launchful

English

Etymology

launch +‎ -ful

Noun

launchful (plural launchfuls)

1. Enough to fill a launch (type of boat).
   • 1897, Arthur Conan Doyle, How Copley Banks Slew Captain Sharkey:

     So at one in the morning Major Harvey, with a launchful of his soldiers, paid a surprise visit to the Ruffling Harry, with the result that they picked up nothing more solid than a hempen cable floating at the moorings.

   • 1909, William Henry Koebel, Madeira: Old and New, page 168:

     They eject a few dozen launchfuls of tourists, greedy-eyed for the scenery, whom the Messrs Reid gather in and prescribe for for a few hours or a few months as the case may be.