flounder

English

Pronunciation

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  Rhymes: -aʊndə(r)

Etymology 1

From Old Norse flyðra. Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

Noun

flounder (plural flounders or flounder)

1. A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder, Platichthys flesus.
2. (countable, North America) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.

Translations

Platichthys flesus

Basque: platuxa latz (eu) Danish: skrubbe (da) c. Dutch: bot (nl) m. Estonian: lest (et) Finnish: kampela (fi) Greek: πλευρονήκτης (el) (plevroníktis) m. Hungarian: érdes lepényhal (hu)

Irish: leith (ga) f., leadhbóg (ga) f. Lithuanian: upinė plekšnė (lt) Norwegian: skrubbe (no) c. Polish: tornia (pl), fląderka (pl) f. Russian: речная камбала (ru) (rečnája kámbala) f. Swedish: skrubbskädda (sv) c., flundra (sv) c.

any flatfish

Basque: platuxa (eu) Danish: flynder (da) c. Dutch: platvis (nl) m. Estonian: lestaline (et) (kala (et)) Finnish: kampela (fi), kampelakala (fi) Hungarian: lepényhal (hu) Latvian: plekste (lv) f.

Lithuanian: plekšnė (lt) Norwegian: flyndre (no) c. Polish: flądra (pl) f. Russian: камбала (ru) (kámbala) f. Scottish Gaelic: pacach-cearr (gd) m. Swedish: plattfisk (sv) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Asturian: xoyu (ast) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 比目魚 (zh), 比目鱼 (zh) (bǐmùyú) French: flet (fr) m. German: Flunder (de) f. Italian: sogliola (it) f.

Japanese: 平目 (ja) (ひらめ, hirame), ヒラメ (ja) (hirame), もがき (ja) (mogaki) Korean: 도다리 (ko) (dodari) Latvian: plekste (lv) f. Luxembourgish: Rubbel (lb) m. Northern Sami: finddar, sánddat Portuguese: solha (pt) f. Spanish: platija (es) f. Volapük: sgar (vo)

External links

• Flounder on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Verb

flounder (third-person singular simple present flounders, present participle floundering, simple past and past participle floundered)

1. (intransitive) To flop around as a fish out of water.
2. (intransitive) To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.

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

3. (intransitive) 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.

   • 1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, Virago Press, paperback edition, page 136

     He is assessing directions, but he is not lost, not floundering.

Usage notes

Frequently confused with the verb founder. The difference is one of severity; floundering (struggling to maintain a position) comes before foundering (losing it completely by falling, sinking or failing).

Translations

to flop around

Finnish: pyörähtää (fi)

Russian: барахтаться (ru) (baráxtat'sja)

to attempt to move or regain one's balance

Finnish: kompuroida (fi)

to act clumsily or confused

Finnish: kompuroida (fi) Japanese: まごつく (ja) (magotsuku)

Russian: сбиваться (ru) (sbivát'sja) impf., сбиться (ru) (sbít'sja) pf.