Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun foundering

1 sense of foundering

Sense 1
foundering, going under -- ((of a ship) sinking)
       => sinking -- (a descent as through liquid (especially through water); "they still talk about the sinking of the Titanic")

Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb founder

4 senses of founder

Sense 1
fall through, fall flat, founder, flop -- (fail utterly; collapse; "The project foundered")
       => fail, go wrong, miscarry -- (be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably")

Sense 2
founder -- (sink below the surface)
       => sink, settle, go down, go under -- (go under, "The raft sank and its occupants drowned")

Sense 3
collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, break, founder -- (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")
       => change -- (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night")

Sense 4
founder -- (stumble and nearly fall; "the horses foundered")
       => stumble, trip -- (miss a step and fall or nearly fall; "She stumbled over the tree root")