flounder
to move in a confused way, to lose control
TRANSLATION
to flounder = ins Schwimmen geraten, zappeln, stammeln, (also plantschen)
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Sharon rides high as Arafat FLOUNDERS. The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is visiting the United States at a time when US and Israeli views on a range of Middle East issues seem closer than ever.
(Roger Hardy - BBC Middle East analyst - 6 Feb 2002)
(Roger Hardy - BBC Middle East analyst - 6 Feb 2002)
Did you
know?
flounder versus founder
The verbs flounder and founder are often confused by English speakers, so here's your chance to be better than them!
Flounder means “to move clumsily, thrash about,” and hence “to proceed in confusion, as in:
- To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.
- To move or act clumsily and in confusion.
Founder comes from a Latin word meaning “bottom” (as in foundation) and originally referred to knocking enemies down; it is now also used to mean “to fail utterly, collapse”, as in:
- To sink below the surface of the water: The ship struck a reef and foundered.
- To cave in; sink: The platform swayed and then foundered.
- To fail utterly; collapse: a marriage that soon foundered.
USAGE NOTE:
If John is FLOUNDERING in English, he may yet succeed. But if he is FOUNDERING, he had better stop the course.
AND THERE'S MORE:
* By the way, the NOUN "founder" refers to someone who establishes something or formulates the basis for something: the founder of a university; the founders of a new nation.
** Also note another meaning: flounder = (a flatfish) der Butt, die Flunder (Lat.:Platichthys flesus)
Adapted from: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
The verbs flounder and founder are often confused by English speakers, so here's your chance to be better than them!
Flounder means “to move clumsily, thrash about,” and hence “to proceed in confusion, as in:
- To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.
- To move or act clumsily and in confusion.
Founder comes from a Latin word meaning “bottom” (as in foundation) and originally referred to knocking enemies down; it is now also used to mean “to fail utterly, collapse”, as in:
- To sink below the surface of the water: The ship struck a reef and foundered.
- To cave in; sink: The platform swayed and then foundered.
- To fail utterly; collapse: a marriage that soon foundered.
USAGE NOTE:
If John is FLOUNDERING in English, he may yet succeed. But if he is FOUNDERING, he had better stop the course.
AND THERE'S MORE:
* By the way, the NOUN "founder" refers to someone who establishes something or formulates the basis for something: the founder of a university; the founders of a new nation.
** Also note another meaning: flounder = (a flatfish) der Butt, die Flunder (Lat.:Platichthys flesus)
Adapted from: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
