FOUNDERING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does foundering mean? 

• FOUNDERING (noun)
  The noun FOUNDERING has 1 sense:

1. (of a ship) sinking

  Familiarity information: FOUNDERING used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FOUNDERING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(of a ship) sinking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

foundering; going under

Hypernyms ("foundering" is a kind of...):

sinking (a descent as through liquid (especially through water))

Domain category:

ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)

Derivation:

founder (sink below the surface)

 Context examples 

To my surprise, my clothes had dried on me and there seemed no indications of catching cold, either from the last soaking or from the prolonged soaking from the foundering of the Martinez.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Some were condensing air into a dry tangible substance, by extracting the nitre, and letting the aqueous or fluid particles percolate; others softening marble, for pillows and pin-cushions; others petrifying the hoofs of a living horse, to preserve them from foundering.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)