lame duck
noun
- an elected official whose successor has already been elected or will be soon, and who is in the final period of their tenure, often characterized by diminished power and influence
- one that is weak or that falls behind in ability or achievement
Wiktionary
noun
Etymology: Equivalent to lame + duck. First use appears c. 1761, in the London Evening Post. Derived from the situation in which a person who had defaulted in the London Stock Exchange was said to waddle out of Exchange Alley like a lame duck. Verbal form first appears c. 1910.
- A person or thing that is helpless, inefficient, or disabled.
“Thus is happens, that, when a considerable loss arises from such contract, the principal on whole behalf it was made, refuses to fulfil it; in this case, the loss falls upon the broker, without remedy; and if he does not fulfil the contract in default of his prinicipal, he foreits his credit and business, and becomes, in the cant of the Alley, a lame duck.”
“A few days after our dinner at the Albion, Glover's city speculations, in spite of his unceasing attention in watching the marker, went altogether wrong, and the poor fellow waddled away from Chapel Court a defaulter, or as the stock-brokers emphatically called it, a lame duck.”
- An elected official who has lost the recent election or is not eligible for reelection and is marking time until leaving office.
“Congressman Jones was a lame duck and did not vote on many issues that were important to his constituents.”
“This is a lame duck administration, and if it is going to pass out political favors worth multimillions of dollars per year, it must move.”
- A person who cannot fulfill their contracts.
- A server that continues to serve ongoing requests while refusing new ones, allowing for graceful shutdown.
verb
Etymology: Equivalent to lame + duck. First use appears c. 1761, in the London Evening Post. Derived from the situation in which a person who had defaulted in the London Stock Exchange was said to waddle out of Exchange Alley like a lame duck. Verbal form first appears c. 1910.
- To behave in the manner of a lame duck.