Sunday, April 15, 2018

Merriam-Webster Word of the Day - Founder

 
 
Merriam-Webster  
 
WORD OF THE DAY
April 15, 2018
 
 
 
 
 
founder Audio pronunciation
 
verb | FOUN-der  
 
Definition
 
:
to make or become disabled or lame
 
:
to give way : collapse
 
:
to become submerged : sink
 
:
to come to grief : fail
 
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Did You Know?
 
Founder comes from Middle English foundren, meaning "to send to the bottom" or "collapse." That word came from the Middle French verb fondrer, and ultimately from the Latin noun fundus, meaning "bottom." When something founders, it usually hits the bottom in one sense or another. A foundering horse—that is, a disabled one—is likely to collapse to the ground. When a ship founders, it sinks to the bottom of the sea. Founder has a broader, figurative sense, too—if someone's marriage or career is foundering, it isn't doing well and is therefore headed downward.
 
 
Examples of FOUNDER
 
As the vessel began to founder, the captain ordered everyone on board to prepare to abandon ship.
 
"If you adore New York City, you can't stand Los Angeles—and vice-versa, or so the myth goes. But the Jennifer Aniston-Justin Theroux marriage, according to People, may have foundered on just that urban divide."
Michael H. Hodges, The Detroit News, 17 Feb. 2018
 
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