Dictionary Definition
founder
Noun
1 inflammation of the laminated tissue that
attaches the hoof to the foot of a horse [syn: laminitis]
2 a person who founds or establishes some
institution; "George Washington is the father of his country" [syn:
beginner, founding
father, father]
3 a worker who makes metal castings
Verb
2 sink below the surface
3 break down, literally or metaphorically; "The
wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The
roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under
the weight of the ice" [syn: collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way,
break]
4 stumble and nearly fall; "the horses
foundered"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -aʊndə(r)
Noun
Translations
One who founds, establishes, and erects; one who
lays a foundation; an author
- Czech: zakladatel
- Dutch: stichter
- French: fondateur fondatrice
- Kurdish:
- Sorani: نوێنهر
- Russian: основатель
- Spanish: fundador
Noun
- The iron worker in
charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
- 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel
Industry, p. 161.
- The term founder was applied in the British iron industry long afterwards to the ironworker in charge of the blast furnace and the smelting operation.
- 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel
Industry, p. 161.
Translations
The iron worker in charge of the blast furnace
and the smelting operation
Verb
- Fill with water and sink.
- 1719: Daniel
Defoe, Robinson
Crusoe
- We were not much more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship but we saw her sink, and then I understood for the first time what was meant by a ship foundering in the sea.
- 1719: Daniel
Defoe, Robinson
Crusoe
- To fall; to stumble and go lame, as a horse.
- To fail; to miscarry.
Translations
to sink
- French: couler, sombrer
- Spanish: zozobrar
to stumble
to fail
- Spanish: fracasar, zozobrar
Usage notes
Frequently confused with flounder. Both may be applied to the same situation, the difference is the severity of the action: floundering (struggling to maintain position) comes first, followed by foundering (losing it by falling, sinking or failing).Extensive Definition
Founder may refer to:
- Founder (noun) - With respect to a settlement, organization, company or enterprise, the person who started or "founded" (as if forging steel) it.
- Founder (noun) - A metalworker operating a foundry.
- Foundering (verb) – Sinking, used as a nautical term; a failing enterprise, used metaphorically to reference a sinking ship. Often confused with "floundering" (acting clumsily or in confusion).
- Foundered (adjective) - a condition, Laminitis, a horse ailment in which "foundering" (sinking) is a common symptom.
- Founder Group, China's second-largest personal computer vendor
- Founder Technology, a subsidiary company of Founder Group engaged in development of PCs, peripherals and PCBs
- Founder effect, a biological concept used to explain genetics in a small isolated population
See also:
founder in Simple English: Founder
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abort,
ancestors, apprentice, architect, artificer, artist, author, be clobbered, be
destroyed, be felled, be lost, be poleaxed, be staggered, be
stricken, begetter,
beginner, break down,
builder, capsize, cave, cave in, collapse, come to grief, come
to naught, come to nothing, conceiver, constructor, craftsman, creator, decline, designer, deviser, die, discoverer, droop, drown, effector, engenderer, engineer, establisher, executor, executrix, fail, fall, fall in, fall through,
falter, father, flop, flop down, flump, flump down, framer, generator, give way, go down,
go downhill, go lame, go under, grower, have a mishap, inaugurator, industrialist, initiator, instigator, institutor, introducer, inventor, journeyman, keel, keel over, lapse, lower, lurch, maker, manufacturer, master, master craftsman,
miscarry, mother, organizer, originator, overset, overturn, past master, patriarch, pitchpole, planner, plop, plop down, plump, precursor, prime mover,
producer, progenitor, raiser, realizer, run aground, sag, scuttle, set, settle, settle down, shaper, sink, sink down, sink like lead,
sire, slip, slouch, slump, slump down, smith, somersault, stagger, stumble, submerge, submerse, subside, suffer a misfortune,
swag, sway, topple, topple down, topple over,
totter, trip, turn over, turn turtle,
upset, upset the boat,
wright