lame duck

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Related to lame-duck: Lame-Duck Amendment

lame duck

a. An elected officeholder or group continuing in office during the period between failure to win an election and the inauguration of a successor.

b. An officeholder who has chosen not to run for reelection or is ineligible for reelection.

2. An ineffective person; a weakling.

[Originally 18th-century British stock exchange slang, defaulter, one who has defaulted on debts (perhaps because such defaulters were likened to injured ducks waddling away from Change Alley, the narrow London side street where share trading was carried out in coffeehouses; compare similar zoomorphic 18th-century stock market terms, such as bear and bull).]

lame′-duck′ adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lame duck

1. a person or thing that is disabled or ineffectual

2. (Stock Exchange) stock exchange a speculator who cannot discharge his or her liabilities

3. (Commerce) a company with a large workforce and high prestige that is unable to meet foreign competition without government support

4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy)

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

b. (as modifier): a lame-duck president.

5. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (modifier) US designating a term of office after which the officeholder will not run for re-election

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lame′ duck′

1. an elected official or group continuing in office in 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. anyone or anything soon to be supplanted by another.

4. a person or thing that is disabled, ineffective, or inefficient.

[1755–65]

lame′-duck′, adj.

lame duck

An elected representative or administration that has failed to win re-election but continues in power until the inauguration of the winner of the last election.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

lame duck - an elected official still in office but not slated to continue

elected official - official who won the office in a free election

Translations

canard boiteux

persona in difficolt...

lame duck

n → Niete f (inf); lame duck company → unwirtschaftliche Firma

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

lame duck

n (person) → persona inetta; (firm) → azienda traballante
a lame duck president (Am) presidente uscente

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in periodicals archive ?

A proposal for a term-sharing agreement between the front-runners in the House leadership race may result in a lame-duck Speaker, according to Marinduque Rep.

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Late last year, the lame-duck county judge and the lame-duck mayor submitted letters to the state Racing Commission, tasked with promulgating operating rules for the new casinos, backing Gulfside's proposal.

Listen To the People

Therefore, he may face a lame-duck period during the latter half of his presidency if the ruling party does poorly in the general elections.

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Walker traveled 130 miles from his Capitol office to sign the bills in Green Bay, a more conservative city far from the liberal capital of Madison, where protesters converged on the Capitol to voice opposition to the lame-duck legislative session two weeks ago.

Republicans weaken Democratic power in Wisconsin, Michigan

But the Republican-controlled legislature quickly introduced and(https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/05/lame-duck-session-what-you-need-know-gop-lawmakers-moves/2213793002/)  passed lame-duck legislation  that takes power away from these incoming officeholders and hands it to the state legislature, which will remain in GOP control.Outgoing Republican Governor Scott Walker is expected to sign these bills into law, but as of this writing has not yet done so.

Wisconsin GOP's Power Grab Is A Danger To Democracy

Until they're signed into law, AB 1069 and the other lame-duck bills remain works in progress.

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Madan Kharel appointed executive chairman of NAC

O Brexit breakthrough in Brussels for lame-duck premier Theresa May.

What stars!

First we had a perceived lame-duck opposition leader with Jeremy Corbyn which turned out to be totally unfounded.

How can lame-duck government carry on? LETTERS&NOSTALGIA

Trade Representative's office had been lobbying lawmakers for months to pass the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership deal in the post-election, lame-duck session of Congress.

Obama administration backs off Pacific trade deal vote effort

Given the anti-TPP presidential campaign rhetoric from the leading candidates of both major political parties this year, supporters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact are concluding that their only realistic chance of getting Congress to approve the TPP will be during the lame-duck session after the November elections.