Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense founders, present participle foundering, past tense, past participle foundered
1. countable noun [usually with poss]
The founder of an institution, organization, or building is the person who got it started or caused it to be built, often by providing the necessary money.
He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty.
Synonyms: initiator, father, establisher, author More Synonyms of founder
2. verb
If something such as a plan or project founders, it fails because of a particular point, difficulty, or problem.
Talks had foundered over the guarantees offered by the government against possiblelosses. [VERB]
3. verb
If a ship founders, it fills with water and sinks.
Three ships foundered in heavy seas. [VERB]
Synonyms: sink, go down, be lost, submerge More Synonyms of founder
More Synonyms of founder
founder in British English1
(ˈfaʊndə)
noun
a person who establishes an institution, company, society, etc
Word origin
C14: see found2
founder in British English2
(ˈfaʊndə)
verb(intransitive)
1.
(of a ship) to sink
2.
to break down or fail
the project foundered
3.
to sink into or become stuck in soft ground
4.
to fall in or give way; collapse
5.
(of a horse) to stumble or go lame
6. archaic
(of animals, esp livestock) to become ill from overeating
noun
7. veterinary science another name for laminitis
▶ USAGE Founder is sometimes wrongly used where flounder is meant: this unexpected turn of events left him floundering (not foundering)
Word origin
C13: from Old French fondrer to submerge, from Latin fundus bottom; see found2
founder in British English3
(ˈfaʊndə)
noun
a.
a person who makes metal castings
b.
(in combination)
an iron founder
Word origin
C15: see found3
founder in American English1
(ˈfaʊndər)
verb intransitive
1.
to stumble, fall, or go lame
2.
to become stuck as in soft ground; bog down
3.
to fill with water, as during a storm, and sink
said of a ship or boat
4.
to become sick from overeating
used esp. of livestock
5.
to break down; fail
verb transitive
6.
to cause to founder
noun
7.
laminitis
Word origin
ME foundren < OFr fondrer, to fall in, sink < fond, bottom < L fundus, bottom: see UNRESOLVED CROSS REF
founder in American English2
(ˈfaʊndər)
noun
1.
a person who founds, or establishes
2. [usually F-]
founding father (sense 2)
founder in American English3
(ˈfaʊndər)
noun
a person who founds, or casts, metals, glass, etc.
Examples of 'founder' in a sentence
founder
The age profile of the founders and chief executives also suggests that experience pays dividends.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Grand plans are of course part of the railway business and quite often they founder.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The founder will have become so overloaded that important tasks will not get done.
Peter F. Drucker THE ESSENTIAL DRUCKER (2001)
He is the rock on which the banking ship has foundered.
The Sun (2008)
They had high hopes, but the project foundered.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Weeks before the firm was to float an American company approached the founder.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Of course, business manuals suggest that taking over from a company founder can be fraught with difficulty.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
A founder is often not the best person to run a company.
Frederic Alan Maxwell BAD BOY BALLMER (2002)
But founders often misunderstand the nature of the change the business is going through and consequently misunderstand the nature of the role they are recruiting for.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The founders - who become billionaires.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But he is the founder of the organization, and the organization has been greatly enriched by his ministry over the years.
Christianity Today (2000)
The founders often spend time at festivals and meeting school groups to give people a chance to learn about the product, and the company.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The founder often refers to her business'family '.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Deals often founder because people take fixed positions on price, delivery, quantity or other issues.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
They had gone out at the top, certainly, but respective solo projects then foundered and record deals were soon withdrawn.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
I want to partner with management (very often founders) to grow their companies.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Often the founders or their descendants, they tend to take a longer-term view than purely financial investors and are more concerned with issues such as reputation.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Ideas such as a centralised IT procurement look good in theory, but often founder when faced with the scale and complexity of the organisation.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
founder
British English: founder NOUN
The founder of an institution, organization, or building is the person who got it started it.
He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty.
American English: founder
Brazilian Portuguese: fundador
Chinese: 创建人
European Spanish: fundador
French: fondateur
German: Gründer
Italian: fondatore
Japanese: 創設者
Korean: 창설자
European Portuguese: fundador
Latin American Spanish: fundador
British English: founder VERB
If something such as a plan or project founders, it fails because of a particular point, difficulty, or problem.
The talks have foundered, largely because of the reluctance of some members of the government to do a deal with criminals.