All 5 Uses of
flounder
in
The Goldfinch
- I'd been shut up in my hotel for more than a week, afraid to telephone anybody or go out; and my heart scrambled and floundered at even the most innocent noises: elevator bell, rattle of the minibar cart, even church clocks tolling the hour, de Westertoren, Krijtberg, a dark edge to the clangor, an inwrought fairy-tale sense of doom.†
p. 5.1
- "Asshole," I sputtered, when he floundered to the surface.†
p. 275.2
- "But I'm not under fifteen," I said, floundering to produce my official-looking state-issued New York ID.†
p. 355.1 *
- He'd gotten so thin, no body fat on him at all, an hour and a half in the water was enough to do it, floundering around at those temperatures.†
p. 441.1
- I mean, it's not that I didn't enjoy It Floundering up the street.†
p. 609.5
Definitions:
-
(1)
(flounder as in: she floundered) to have difficulty -- such as to not know what to do or to move awkwardly on unsure footing
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Flounder is also a kind of fish.