From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdead duckˌdead ˈduck noun → a dead duck
Examples from the Corpus
dead duck• Whether voters are bored, confused or scared of losing popular services, it seems to be a dead duck.• Recruiting outsiders is a dead duck for the moment; another five years of failure and the time may yet come.• Competition climbing is laughable in this country, and is probably a dead duck anyway.• In April Harold Wilson admitted what everyone else already knew: the Bill was a dead duck. 