lame duck

noun

Definition of lame duck

1 : one that is weak or that falls behind in ability or achievement especially, chiefly British : an ailing company

2 : an elected official or group continuing to hold political office during the period between the election and the inauguration of a successor

3 : one whose position or term of office will soon end

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Examples of lame duck in a Sentence

The President was a lame duck during the end of his second term.

Recent Examples on the Web And, as previously announced, the bill does not contain COVID-19 relief, leaving that issue in all likelihood for a post-election lame duck session — or for the next administration. — Andrew Taylor, chicagotribune.com, "Democrats set to unveil stopgap bill to prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month," 18 Sep. 2020 Taking the stage for his first rally as a lame duck president, Mr. Trump immediately, and falsely, claimed victory in the presidential race. — New York Times, "At Rally for Georgia Senators, Trump Focuses on His Own Grievances," 5 Dec. 2020 In politics, a lame duck president is a lot more vigorous. — Oliver Staley, Quartz, "The destructive power of a lame duck president," 7 Nov. 2020 And in yet a third scenario, in which Trump is a lame duck president, Congress could pass a smaller package in December followed by a new spending proposal in the new year. — Hamza Shaban, Washington Post, "Dow caps volatile October with worst weekly finish since March," 30 Oct. 2020 In the lame duck, Cupp’s members considered delaying HB6 payments to the nuclear facilities, but in the end did nothing about the tainted law. — cleveland, "The top newsmakers in Ohio politics for 2020: Analysis," 27 Dec. 2020 Another package of bills passed in lame duck would give similar tax breaks for smaller grocery facilities intended to respond to customers' online orders. — Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, "Whitmer may veto lame duck bills giving major tax breaks to Meijer," 24 Dec. 2020 This should also come as no surprise, considering the fact that lame duck President Trump has done everything in his power to make Joe Biden’s presidential transition as difficult as possible. — Lydia Wang, refinery29.com, "Melania Trump Refuses To Welcome Jill Biden," 14 Jan. 2021 Mexico may have escaped more significant pushback from the United States by passing the law limiting D.E.A. activities in December, when a lame duck Trump administration was consumed with protesting the results of the American election. — New York Times, "In Blow to U.S. Alliance, Mexico Clears General Accused of Drug Trafficking," 15 Jan. 2021

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