Anyone or anything that's still in use, but has been superseded by the next version. The term is often applied to politicians after their successor is elected, but before the incumbent's term ends and he or she leaves office. For a sitting American President, this is the time between losing (or not contesting) a November 2nd election and the formal swearing-in of the President-elect the following January. Though still in power, the incumbent has no real mandate to legislate or take any long-term action.

There are at least two versions of the Lame Duck.

The first is a variation on the One Step, where you alternate a "down" step (flat-footed with the knee a little bent), with a an "up" step (on the ball of the foot with a straight leg). Thus the couple goes down-up-down-up and looks quite silly, and a little like a lame duck, or at least a lame person). Just about all One Step variations can be done with the Lame Duck variation.

The other is a variation on the Waltz or Hesitation Waltz. Done to 3/4 music, you take two steps in three beats, the first step taking two of the beats giving you a slow-quick-slow-quick rhythm. This does NOT have the ungainly down-up-down-up of the One Step variation; rather, it has a graceful sink and rise. A Waltz done with this Lame Duck variation is sometimes referred to as a Canter Waltz. Once you're doing this step, most of your waltz variations become impossible (since they're in 3) but most of your One Step and Fox Trot variations become possible.