lame duck

[ leym-duhk ]
See synonyms for lame duck on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an elected official or group of officials, as a legislator, continuing in office during the period between an election defeat and a successor's assumption of office.

  2. a president who is completing a term of office and chooses not to run or is ineligible to run for reelection.

  1. a person finishing a term of employment after a replacement has been chosen.

  2. anything soon to be supplanted by another that is more efficient, economical, etc.

  3. a person or thing that is helpless, ineffective, or inefficient.

  4. a person who has lost a great deal of money in speculations on the stock market.

Origin of lame duck

1
First recorded in 1755–65

Other words from lame duck

  • lame-duck, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lame duck in a sentence

  • By the way they passed a sward of green, on which sundry little boys were engaged upon the lapidation of a lame duck.

    The Caxtons, Complete | Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  • They have been through the furnace of affliction—even that lame duck.

    Averil | Rosa Nouchette Carey
  • The lame duck had been disturbed by Shin Shira's passing, and was slowly waddling towards the water.

    The Mysterious Shin Shira | George Edward Farrow
  • She let Miles feel himself a man as other men, not a mere "lame duck" to whom indulgence must needs be granted.

    The Hermit of Far End | Margaret Pedler
  • By the way they passed a sward of green, on which sundry little boys were engaged upon the lapidation, or stoning, of a lame duck.

British Dictionary definitions for lame duck

lame duck

noun
  1. a person or thing that is disabled or ineffectual

  2. stock exchange a speculator who cannot discharge his liabilities

  1. a company with a large workforce and high prestige that is unable to meet foreign competition without government support

  2. US

    • an elected official or body of officials remaining in office in the interval between the election and inauguration of a successor

    • (as modifier): a lame-duck president

  3. (modifier) US designating a term of office after which the officeholder will not run for re-election

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for lame duck

lame duck

A public official or administration serving out a term in office after having been defeated for reelection or when not seeking reelection.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with lame duck

lame duck

An elected officeholder whose term of office has not yet expired but who has failed to be re-elected and therefore cannot garner much political support for initiatives. For example, You can't expect a lame duck President to get much accomplished; he's only got a month left in office. This expression originated in the 1700s and then meant a stockbroker who did not meet his debts. It was transferred to officeholders in the 1860s. The Lame Duck Amendment, 20th to the U.S. Constitution, calls for Congress and each new President to take office in January instead of March (as before), thereby eliminating the lame-duck session of Congress.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.