Definition of "lame" []

• Disabled so that movement, especially walking, is difficult or impossible: Lame from the accident, he walked with a cane. A lame wing kept the bird from flying. (adjective)
• Marked by pain or rigidness: a lame back. (adjective)
• Weak and ineffectual; unsatisfactory: a lame attempt to apologize; lame excuses for not arriving on time. (adjective)
• To cause to become lame; cripple. (verb-transitive)
• A thin metal plate, especially one of the overlapping steel plates in medieval armor. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He gives the term lame duck a completely new meaning."
• "Before becoming disabled, I was told very directly why the term lame is so offensive and I worked very hard to remove it from my vocabulary."
• "He's given new definition to the term lame duck and while most Americans are happy to have the French hate us, I think they'd be significantly more concerned with a British finger wagging."