lame duck: Meaning and Definition of

lame' duck'

Pronunciation: [key]
  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.
  3. a person finishing a term of employment after a replacement has been chosen.
  4. anything soon to be supplanted by another that is more efficient, economical, etc.
  5. a person or thing that is disabled, helpless, ineffective, or inefficient.
  6. a person who has lost a great deal of money in speculations on the stock market.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.