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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.
American Heritage Idioms
2
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Phrase(s): lame duck
1. Fig. someone who is in the last period of a term in an elective office and cannot run for reelection. • You can’t expect much from a lame duck. • As a lame duck, there’s not a lot I can do. 2. Fig. having to do with someone in the last period of a term in an elective office. (Used as an adjective; sometimes lame-duck.) • You don’t expect much from a lame-duck president. • Lame-duck Congresses tend to do things they wouldn’t dare do otherwise.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs