lame duck
    n 1: an elected official still in office but not slated to
         continue

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.
      (a) Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury,
          defect, or temporary obstruction of a function; as, a
          lame leg, arm, or muscle.
      (b) 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.
          [1913 Webster]

   2. Hence, hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect; as, a
      lame answer. "A lame endeavor." --Barrow.
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            O, most lame and impotent conclusion! --Shak.
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   Lame duck
      (a) (Stock Exchange), a person who can not fulfill his
          contracts. [Cant]
      (b) 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.
          [1913 Webster +PJC]

Duck \Duck\, n. [OE. duke, doke. See Duck, v. t. ]
   1. (Zool.) Any bird of the subfamily Anatin[ae], family
      Anatid[ae].
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   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.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. A sudden inclination of the bead or dropping of the
      person, resembling the motion of a duck in water.
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            Here be, without duck or nod,
            Other trippings to be trod.           --Milton.
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   Bombay duck (Zool.), a fish. See Bummalo.

   Buffel duck, Spirit duck. See Buffel duck.

   Duck ant (Zool.), a species of white ant in Jamaica which
      builds large nests in trees.

   Duck barnacle. (Zool.) See Goose barnacle.

   Duck hawk. (Zool.)
      (a) In the United States: The peregrine falcon.
      (b) In England: The marsh harrier or moor buzzard.

   Duck mole (Zool.), 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.
      [1913 Webster]