founder
One who establishes
Founder has two distinct clusters of meaning.
One relates to founding—establishing something.
A founder creates an institution, company, or movement: Steve Jobs was a founder of Apple.
The other meaning is to fail or sink.
A ship founders when it takes on water and goes down.
A plan or enterprise founders when it collapses: The negotiations foundered over territorial disputes.
Horses founder when they develop a painful hoof condition called laminitis.
One who starts businesses
- startupNew business enterprise
- cofounderJoint business originator
- ventureRisky new undertaking
- incorporateAbsorb into something larger
launch · enterprise · pioneer · innovate · visionary · inception · charter · originate
Form-giving container
- moltenLiquefied by extreme heat
- pourSend liquid streaming out
- castingShaping through liquid form
- metalworkShaped metal objects
forge · foundry · crucible · ladle · ingot · pattern · sand casting · die casting
Overturn in water
- shipwreckDestroyed vessel at sea
- submergePlunge beneath liquid
- flounderStruggle awkwardly, or seafood
- take on waterFill with liquid through breach
go down · keel over · list · scuttle · wreck · run aground · swamp · broach
Inability to pay debts
- bankruptcyLegal status when insolvent
- liquidationSelling assets for cash
- defaultPreset standard option
- receivershipCourt-ordered asset management
creditors · foreclosure · debt · restructuring · insolvent · overextended · arrears · indebtedness
entrepreneur
One who starts businesses
incorporate · launch · enterprise · pioneer · innovate · visionary · inception · charter · originate · bootstrap
mold
Form-giving container
metalwork · forge · foundry · crucible · ladle · ingot · pattern · sand casting · die casting · bell
capsize
Overturn in water
take on water · go down · keel over · list · scuttle · wreck · run aground · swamp · broach · flotsam
insolvency
Inability to pay debts
- bankruptcyLegal status when insolvent
- liquidationSelling assets for cash
- defaultPreset standard option
receivership · creditors · foreclosure · debt · restructuring · insolvent · overextended · arrears · indebtedness · bailout
collapse
Sudden structural failure
- flounderStruggle awkwardly, or seafood
- falterLose momentum or steadiness
- stumbleLose footing momentarily
stall · miscarry · misfire · flop · fizzle · crater · implode · derail · unravel · deteriorate
laminitis
Inflammatory equine hoof disease
horseshoe · inflammation · pastern · fetlock · rotation · sole · frog · abscess · navicular · supportive care
- careersdoctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer, nurse
- leadershipleadership styles, leader, leadership skills, boss, leading
- work termsboss, job, manager, career, company
- ancestorsancestor, ancestors, forebears, forebear, forbear
- bossesboss, bossman, manager, supervisor, foreman
- business leadersCEO, director, presidente, executive, owner
founderdestroyer
One that ruins completely
dismantler · abolisher · subverter · follower · closer
- found outLearned the truth
- lost and foundStation for reclaiming mislaid belongings
- nowhere to be foundEntirely absent despite searching
- found oneselfBecame unexpectedly located
- found artArtwork from preexisting objects
- found objectsUnaltered items as art
found, foundation, profound, founding, founders, unfounded, confound, confounded, foundering