The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Founder \Found"er\, n. [From Found to cast.]
   One who founds; one who casts metals in various forms; a
   caster; as, a founder of cannon, bells, hardware, or types.
   [1913 Webster]

   Fonder's dust. Same as Facing, 4.

   Founder's sand, a kind of sand suitable for purposes of
      molding.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Founder \Found"er\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Foundered; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Foundering.] [OF. fondrer to fall in, cf. F.
   s'effondrer, fr. fond bottom, L. fundus. See Found to
   establish.]
   1. (Naut.) To become filled with water, and sink, as a ship.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To fall; to stumble and go lame, as a horse.
      [1913 Webster]

            For which his horse fear['e] gan to turn,
            And leep aside, and foundrede as he leep. --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To fail; to miscarry. "All his tricks founder." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Founder \Found"er\, v. t.
   To cause internal inflammation and soreness in the feet or
   limbs of (a horse), so as to disable or lame him.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Founder \Found"er\, n. (Far.)
   (a) A lameness in the foot of a horse, occasioned by
       inflammation; closh.
   (b) An inflammatory fever of the body, or acute rheumatism;
       as, chest founder. See Chest ffounder. --James White.
       [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Founder \Found"er\, n. [Cf. OF. fondeor, F. fondateur, L.
   fundator.]
   One who founds, establishes, and erects; one who lays a
   foundation; an author; one from whom anything originates; one
   who endows.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

founder
    n 1: inflammation of the laminated tissue that attaches the hoof
         to the foot of a horse [syn: laminitis, founder]
    2: a person who founds or establishes some institution; "George
       Washington is the father of his country" [syn: founder,
       beginner, founding father, father]
    3: a worker who makes metal castings
    v 1: fail utterly; collapse; "The project foundered" [syn: fall
         through, fall flat, founder, flop]
    2: sink below the surface
    3: break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall
       collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The
       roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave
       under the weight of the ice" [syn: collapse, fall in,
       cave in, give, give way, break, founder]
    4: stumble and nearly fall; "the horses foundered"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

132 Moby Thesaurus words for "founder":
   abort, ancestors, apprentice, architect, artificer, artist, author,
   be clobbered, be destroyed, be felled, be lost, be poleaxed,
   be staggered, be stricken, begetter, beginner, break down, builder,
   capsize, cave, cave in, collapse, come to grief, come to naught,
   come to nothing, conceiver, constructor, craftsman, creator,
   decline, designer, deviser, die, discoverer, droop, drown,
   effector, engenderer, engineer, establisher, executor, executrix,
   fail, fall, fall in, fall through, falter, father, flop, flop down,
   flump, flump down, framer, generator, give way, go down,
   go downhill, go lame, go under, grower, have a mishap, inaugurator,
   industrialist, initiator, instigator, institutor, introducer,
   inventor, journeyman, keel, keel over, lapse, lower, lurch, maker,
   manufacturer, master, master craftsman, miscarry, mother,
   organizer, originator, overset, overturn, past master, patriarch,
   pitchpole, planner, plop, plop down, plump, precursor, prime mover,
   producer, progenitor, raiser, realizer, run aground, sag, scuttle,
   set, settle, settle down, shaper, sink, sink down, sink like lead,
   sire, slip, slouch, slump, slump down, smith, somersault, stagger,
   stumble, submerge, submerse, subside, suffer a misfortune, swag,
   sway, topple, topple down, topple over, totter, trip, turn over,
   turn turtle, upset, upset the boat, wright