1
- a person who establishes or originates an institution, city, or colony创建者; 缔造者。
1.1
- Zoology an animal, especially a fertilized female insect, that founds a new colony【动】新群体建立者（尤指已受孕的雌性昆虫）。
no obj., with adverbial
1- (of a ship) fill with water and sink（船）沉没：
six drowned when the yacht foundered off the Cornish coast.
游艇在康沃尔海岸附近沉没时, 六人被淹死。
1.1
- figurative (of a plan or undertaking) fail or break down, typically as a result of a particular problem or setback〈喻〉（计划, 事业）失败; 垮掉：
the talks foundered on the issue of reform.
围绕改革问题进行的会谈未获成功。
1.2
- (of a horse or its rider) stumble or fall from exhaustion, lameness, or because of uneven or boggy ground（马, 骑手）蹒跚; 绊倒; 摔倒。
1.3
- chiefly N. Amer. 〈主北美〉(of a hoofed animal, especially a horse or pony) succumb to laminitis（尤指马等有蹄动物的）患蹄叶炎。
mass noun
- chiefly N. Amer. laminitis in horses, ponies, or other hoofed animals〈主北美〉（马等有蹄动物的）蹄叶炎, 马跛病。
USAGE
It is easy to confuse the words founder and flounder, not only because they sound similar but also because the contexts in which they are used tend to overlap. Founder means, in its general and extended use, 'fail or come to nothing', as in the scheme foundered because of lack of organizational backing. Flounder, on the other hand, means 'struggle; be in a state of confusion', as in new recruits floundering about in their first week.
词源
Middle English （in the sense 'knock to the ground'）： from Old French fondrer, esfondrer 'submerge, collapse', based on Latin fundus 'bottom, base'.