flounder

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches

   A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder (Platichthys flesus).

2. 2

   Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.

   • Blackfishing from the beach. I've done my research. Hundreds of shipwrecks line the Jersey coast, and many of them are close enough to reach with a long cast on a dead-low tide. These wrecks hold tautog, porgies, sea bass, flounder.
3. 3

   A bootmaker's tool for crimping boot fronts.

4. ›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To act clumsily or confused

      To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered.

      • He gave a good speech, but floundered when audience members asked questions he could not answer well.
      • They have floundered on from blunder to blunder.
      • These epics nearly always had runaway trains, nincompoops floundering with the controls and a collapsed bridge just ahead!
   2. 5

      To flop around as a fish out of water.

   3. 6

      To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.

      • Robert yanked Connie's leg vigorously, causing her to flounder and eventually fall.
   4. 7

      To be in serious difficulty.

      • Meanwhile bus and tram competition was causing the Central London Railway to flounder after its early success, and as for the City & South London ... that had always floundered.

The neighborhood

• synonymfaulter
• neighborflail