What is "lame duck"

Lame \Lame\ (l[=a]m), a. [Compar. Lamer (l[=a]m"[~e]r); superl. Lamest.] [OE. lame, AS. lama; akin to D. lam, G. lahm, OHG., Dan., & Sw. lam, Icel. lami, Russ. lomate to break, lomota rheumatism.]

1. 1. Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect, or temporary obstruction of a function; as, a lame leg, arm, or muscle.

   2. To some degree disabled by reason of the imperfect action of a limb; crippled; as, a lame man. ``Lame of one leg.''
      --Arbuthnot. ``Lame in both his feet.''
      --2 Sam. ix. 13. ``He fell, and became lame.''
      --2 Sam. iv. 4.

2. Hence, hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect; as, a lame answer. ``A lame endeavor.'' --Barrow. O, most lame and impotent conclusion! --Shak. Lame duck

   1. (Stock Exchange), a person who can not fulfill his contracts. [Cant]

   2. An elected politician who is completing a term after having been defeated at an election; also, an office holder who cannot or chooses not to run again for the same office; -- So called from the presumed lack of political power of one who is soon to be out of office. (b) Any office holder who is serving out a term after a replacement has been selected.

Duck \Duck\, n. [OE. duke, doke. See Duck, v. t. ]

1. (Zool.) Any bird of the subfamily Anatin[ae], family Anatid[ae].

   Note: The genera and species are numerous. They are divided into river ducks and sea ducks. Among the former are the common domestic duck ( Anas boschas); the wood duck ( Aix sponsa); the beautiful mandarin duck of China ( Dendronessa galeriliculata); the Muscovy duck, originally of South America ( Cairina moschata). Among the sea ducks are the eider, canvasback, scoter, etc.

2. A sudden inclination of the bead or dropping of the person, resembling the motion of a duck in water. Here be, without duck or nod, Other trippings to be trod. --Milton. Bombay duck (Zo["o]l.), a fish. See Bummalo. Buffel duck, Spirit duck. See Buffel duck. Duck ant (Zo["o]l.), a species of white ant in Jamaica which builds large nests in trees. Duck barnacle. (Zo["o]l.) See Goose barnacle. Duck hawk. (Zo["o]l.)

   1. In the United States: The peregrine falcon.

   2. In England: The marsh harrier or moor buzzard.

      Duck mole (Zo["o]l.), a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus). It belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile; -- called also duckbill, platypus, mallangong, mullingong, tambreet, and water mole.

      To make ducks and drakes, to throw a flat stone obliquely, so as to make it rebound repeatedly from the surface of the water, raising a succession of jets; hence:

      To play at ducks and drakes, with property, to throw it away heedlessly or squander it foolishly and unprofitably.

      Lame duck. See under Lame.

1761, "any disabled person or thing;" especially Stock Exchange slang for "defaulter."\n\nA lame duck is a man who cannot pay his differences, and is said to waddle off.

[Thomas Love Peacock, "Gryll Grange," 1861]

\nSometimes also in naval use for "an old, slow ship." Modern sense of "public official serving out term after an election" is recorded by 1878 in American English, from an anecdote published in that year of President Lincoln, who is alleged to have said, "[A] senator or representative out of business is a sort of lame duck. He has to be provided for."

n. 1 (context colloquial English) A person or thing that is helpless, inefficient or disabled. 2 (context US politics English) An elected official who has lost the recent election or is not eligible for reelection and is mark time until leaving office. 3 (context finance slang dated English) A person who can not fulfil his contracts.

n. an elected official still in office but not slated to continue

A lame duck, in politics, is an elected official whose successor has already been elected. The official is often seen as having less influence with other politicians due to their limited time left in office. Conversely, a lame duck is free to make decisions that exercise their standard powers with little fear of consequence, such as issuing executive orders or other controversial edicts. Lame duck politicians result from term limits, planned retirement, or electoral losses.

thumb|The lame duck The lame duck is a dance move in tango.

The dancers slightly separate, clasp hands, and face forward. The man steps forward with his right foot and the lady with her left, dipping with their right knee as they take the next step. The steps are repeated.

Category:Social dance steps Category:Tango dance

Lame duck can refer to:

• Lame duck (politics), an elected official who is approaching the end of his or her tenure, and especially an official whose successor has already been elected.
• Lame duck session, a legislative session that takes place after an election but before newly elected members are seated
• Lame duck (game design), a player in a game who cannot win, yet remains in the game.
• Lame duck (tango), a position in tango
• Lame Ducks (TV series), a British sitcom
• Lame Duck Amendment, an informal name for the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution

A lame duck, in the context of a game, is a player who remains in the game but has no chance of winning. It must be literally impossible – not merely highly improbable – for a player to win for it to constitute a lame-duck scenario.

Lame ducks are often found in sport. The teams that are eliminated from playoff contention are lame ducks, and have nothing remaining to play for, often with several weeks of games remaining on the schedule. In some cases, losing the remaining games can be more favorable than attempting to win them, due to more favorable positioning in a draft and the ability to land more talented players. Teams in Europe (especially those without drafts) discourage "losing out" by imposing a relegation system that expels the lowest teams from the league. A draft lottery is used in some North American professional leagues to discourage losing out by randomizing who gets the top draft picks, while still assuring the less talented teams have access to the players necessary to compete.

A kingmaker is a lame duck who retains the ability to influence (sometimes decisively) who, among other players, will win the game. In sports, the spoiler plays a similar role.

Category:Game design