Adjacent Words

Flounder definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FLOUN'DER, n. A flat fish of the genus Pleuronectes.
FLOUN'DER, v.i. [This seems to be allied to flaunt and flounce.]
To fling the limbs and body, as in making efforts to move; to struggle as a horse in the mire; to roll, toss and tumble.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: flesh of any of various American and European flatfish
2: any of various European and non-European marine flatfish v
1: walk with great difficulty; "He staggered along in the heavy snow" [syn: stagger, flounder]
2: behave awkwardly; have difficulties; "She is floundering in college"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural flounder or flounders) Etymology: Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian flundra flounder Date: 15th century flatfish; especially a marine fish of either of two families (Pleuronectidae and Bothidae) that include important food fishes II. intransitive verb (floundered; floundering) Etymology: probably alteration of founder Date: 1592 1. to struggle to move or obtain footing ; thrash about wildly 2. to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. & n. --v.intr. 1 struggle in mud, or as if in mud, or when wading. 2 perform a task badly or without knowledge; be out of one's depth. --n. an act of floundering. Derivatives: flounderer n. Etymology: imit.: perh. assoc. with founder, blunder 2. n. 1 an edible flat-fish, Pleuronectes flesus, native to European shores. 2 any of various flat-fish native to N. American shores. Etymology: ME f. AF floundre, OF flondre, prob. of Scand. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flounder Floun"der, n. [Cf. Sw. flundra; akin to Dan. flynder, Icel. fly?ra, G. flunder, and perh. to E. flounder, v.i.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) A flatfish of the family Pleuronectid[ae], of many species. Note: The common English flounder is Pleuronectes flesus. There are several common American species used as food; as the smooth flounder (P. glabra); the rough or winter flounder (P. Americanus); the summer flounder, or plaice (Paralichthys dentatus), Atlantic coast; and the starry flounder (Pleuronectes stellatus). 2. (Bootmaking) A tool used in crimping boot fronts.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flounder Floun"der, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Floundered; p. pr. & vb. n. Floundering.] [Cf. D. flodderen to flap, splash through mire, E. flounce, v.i., and flounder the fish.] To fling the limbs and body, as in making efforts to move; to struggle, as a horse in the mire, or as a fish on land; to roll, toss, and tumble; to flounce. They have floundered on from blunder to blunder. --Sir W. Hamilton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flounder Floun"der, n. The act of floundering.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(flounders, floundering, floundered) 1. If something is floundering, it has many problems and may soon fail completely. What a pity that his career was left to flounder... The economy was floundering. = founder VERB: V, V 2. If you say that someone is floundering, you are criticizing them for not making decisions or for not knowing what to say or do. Right now, you've got a president who's floundering, trying to find some way to get his campaign jump-started... I know that you're floundering around, trying to grasp at any straw. = dither VERB: V, V around [disapproval] 3. If you flounder in water or mud, you move in an uncontrolled way, trying not to sink. Three men were floundering about in the water. VERB: V adv/prep, also V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Struggle (as an animal in the mire), toss, tumble, wallow, flounce, toss about. II. n. Flowk, fluke, turbot (Pleuronectes or Platessa flesus).

Moby Thesaurus

agonize over, alternate, back and fill, be all thumbs, be at sea, be hard put, be uncertain, beat about, blunder, blunder away, blunder into, blunder on, blunder upon, boggle, botch, bumble, bungle, butcher, capsize, careen, career, come a cropper, commit a gaffe, doubt, ebb and flow, fall, fall down, fall flat, fall headlong, fall over, fall prostrate, falter, faux pas, feel unsure, flounce, fluctuate, fumble, get a cropper, go through phases, grope, grovel, have trouble, heave, hobbyhorse, labor, labor under difficulties, list, lumber, lurch, make heavy weather, mar, miscue, muddle, muff, murder, oscillate, pendulate, pitch, pitch and plunge, pitch and toss, play havoc with, plunge, pound, puzzle over, question, rear, reel, ring the changes, rock, roll, scend, seesaw, seethe, shift, shuffle, slip, spoil, sprawl, spread-eagle, stagger, strive, struggle, stumble, sway, swing, take a fall, take a flop, take a header, take a pratfall, take a spill, teeter, teeter-totter, thrash about, tilt, toil, topple, topple down, topple over, toss, toss and tumble, toss and turn, totter, travail, trip, tumble, turn, turn turtle, vacillate, vary, volutation, walk on eggshells, wallop, wallow, waver, wax and wane, welter, wobble, wonder, wonder whether, yaw