Meaning & use
a flounder
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A flat sea fish that has both eyes on one side of its head and is often eaten as food.
Grammar: Countable noun. The plural can be 'flounder' or 'flounders' when referring to the fish, but 'flounders' is more common for different species.
Patterns
- catch a flounder
- a flounder in the sea
- fillet of flounder
We caught a large flounder while fishing off the pier.
The restaurant serves grilled flounder with lemon and herbs.
Flounder are bottom-dwellers, hiding in the sand to ambush prey.
Word forms
| plural | flounder |
|---|---|
| plural | flounders |
Common combinations
- grilled flounder
- Grilled flounder is a popular dish in coastal restaurants.
- catch a flounder
- He managed to catch a flounder on his first try.
- flounder fillet
- She bought a fresh flounder fillet for dinner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flatfish
- A general term for this type of fish, including sole and plaice.
- sole
- Another flatfish, often more expensive and delicate in flavor.
Word family
- floundering adjective
- Struggling or moving awkwardly, like a fish out of water.
Commonly confused: a flounder or flounder (verb)? a flounder or founder?
a flounder vs flounder (verb)
To flounder means to struggle or be in difficulty. The noun is the fish.
a flounder vs founder
To founder means to fail completely or sink. It sounds similar but is different in meaning.
Practice
We ordered ___ flounder for dinner.
Choose one answer.
We use 'the' when referring to a specific dish already known or when talking about a particular fish. 'A' would mean one whole fish, but here it's a dish. 'No article' would be incorrect because 'flounder' is countable.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a flounder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.