lame duck

noun

1

: one that is weak or that falls behind in ability or achievement

especially, chiefly British : an ailing company

2

: an elected official or group continuing to hold political office during the period between the election and the inauguration of a successor

3

: one whose position or term of office will soon end

lame-duck

ˈlām-ˈdək 

adjective

Examples of lame duck in a Sentence

The President was a lame duck during the end of his second term.

Recent Examples on the Web

There are those led by performative militants (Gustavo Petro, in Colombia, and the lame duck Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in Mexico) and by pragmatic social democrats (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in Brazil, and Gabriel Boric, in Chile). —Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024

The result reduced the leaders of the bloc’s biggest nations, Germany and France, to lame ducks. —Max Hastings, Twin Cities, 12 June 2024

Doing the show as a lame duck will offer challenges (and that’s being kind). —Bob Raissman, New York Daily News, 8 June 2024

Republicans wouldn’t participate unless Malloy — a lame duck Democrat who had bumped heads plenty with lawmakers in his second term — was excluded from the talks. —Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 29 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1761, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

lame duck

noun

: an elected official continuing to hold office until a successor takes office