1DECIDEto not know what to say or do because you feel confused or upset 不知所措;支吾
I found myself floundering as I tried to answer her questions.
我想回答她的问题,却不知说什么好。
‘I’m sorry, ’ she floundered helplessly.
“对不起。”她无助地嗫嚅道。
2FAILto have a lot of problems and be likely to fail completely 困难重重,艰难挣扎
More and more firms are floundering because of the recession.
由于经济衰退,越来越多的公司举步维艰。
3[always + adverbadv/prepositionprep]CLUMSY to be unable to move easily because you are in deep water or mud, or cannot see very well 〔因深陷在水中、泥里或因看不清而〕挣扎
They were floundering chest-deep in the freezing water.
floundered helplessly• When another student floundered helplessly before some elementary matter of grammar, Sabour handed over his notebook and explained the point.
flounder• Dover's town beach for flounder.• The fishermantrudged to the sea once more, spoke, and the floundergranted the wish.• The flounderpopulation is also on the increase.• The floundersurfaced and asked the fisherman what he wanted.• The flounder told him his wife had her wish, and when the fisherman got home, he saw it was true.• Southwold to Brightlingsea poor with flounder and dabsplusoccasionalsole and plaice from estuaries.