"foundering" in the noun sense
1. foundering, going under
of a ship) sinking
"foundering" in the verb sense
1. fall through, fall flat, founder, flop
fail utterly collapse
"The project foundered"
2. founder
sink below the surface
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"
4. founder
stumble and nearly fall
"the horses foundered"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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