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Flounder vs Plot - What's the difference?

flounder | plot |

In lang=en terms the difference between flounder and plot

is that flounder is to act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered while plot is to conceive a crime, misdeed, etc.

As nouns the difference between flounder and plot

is that flounder is a european species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, european flounder, while plot is the course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.

As verbs the difference between flounder and plot

is that flounder is to flop around as a fish out of water while plot is to conceive (a crime, etc).

flounder

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) floundre, from . Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder, .
  • (North America) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.
  • A bootmaker's tool for crimping boot fronts.
  • (rfi, the bootmaker's tool)

    Etymology 2

    Possibly from the noun. Possibly from (founder) or from (etyl) . See other terms beginning with fl , such as (flutter), (flitter), (float), (flap), (flub), (flip)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To flop around as a fish out of water.
  • To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.
  • Robert yanked Connie's leg vigorously, causing her to flounder and eventually fall.
  • To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered.
  • * Sir W. Hamilton
  • They have floundered on from blunder to blunder.
    He gave a good speech, but floundered when audience members asked questions he could not answer well.
  • * 1996 , , Virago Press, paperback edition, page 136
  • He is assessing directions, but he is not lost, not floundering .
    Usage notes
    Frequently confused with the verb founder. The difference is one of severity; floundering'' (struggling to maintain a position) comes before ''foundering (losing it completely by falling, sinking or failing).

    plot

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, then the winding up of the plot must be a probable consequence of all that went before.
  • An area or land used for building on or planting on.
  • A graph or diagram drawn by hand or produced by a mechanical or electronic device.
  • A secret plan to achieve an end, the end or means usually being illegal or otherwise questionable.
  • The plot would have enabled them to get a majority on the board.
    The assassination of Lincoln was part of a larger plot .
  • * Shakespeare
  • I have overheard a plot of death.
  • * Addison
  • O, think what anxious moments pass between / The birth of plots and their last fatal periods!
  • Contrivance; deep reach thought; ability to plot or intrigue.
  • * Denham
  • a man of much plot
  • Participation in any stratagem or conspiracy.
  • * Milton
  • And when Christ saith, Who marries the divorced commits adultery, it is to be understood, if he had any plot in the divorce.
  • A plan; a purpose.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
  • no other plot in their religion but serve God and save their souls

    Synonyms

    * (course of a story) storyline * (area) parcel * (secret plan) conspiracy, scheme

    Derived terms

    * Gunpowder Plot * lose the plot * plotless * subplot * the plot thickens/plot thickens

    Verb

    (plott)
  • To conceive (a crime, etc).
  • They had ''plotted a robbery.
  • To trace out (a graph or diagram).
  • They ''plotted'' the number of edits per day.
  • To mark (a point on a graph, chart, etc).
  • Every five minutes they ''plotted'' their position.
  • * Carew
  • This treatise plotteth down Cornwall as it now standeth.
  • To conceive a crime, misdeed, etc.
  • ''They were plotting against the king.

    Synonyms

    * (contrive) becast * (sense) scheme

    Derived terms

    * replot

    Anagrams

    * * English control verbs ----