Idioms

sitting duck

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sitting duck

A person or thing that is vulnerable to or unprotected from attack; an easy target. I wouldn't leave your car parked here overnight. It will be a sitting duck in this neighborhood, just waiting to be stolen. We can't go into that area unarmed—we'd be sitting ducks! I felt like a sitting duck walking by myself through the park at night.
See also: duck, sitting
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*sitting duck

Fig. someone or something vulnerable to attack, physical or verbal. (Alludes to a duck floating on the water, not suspecting that it is the object of a hunter or predator. *Typically: be ~; like ~; looking like~.) You look like a sitting duck out there. Get in here where the enemy cannot fire at you. The senator was a sitting duck because of his unpopular position on school reform.
See also: duck, sitting
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

sitting duck

An easy target, as in If you park in front of a fire hydrant, you're a sitting duck for a ticket. This term alludes to the ease with which a hunter can shoot a duck that remains in one spot, in contrast to one in flight. [First half of 1900s]
See also: duck, sitting
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

a sitting duck

If someone is a sitting duck, they are in a situation where it is very easy to attack them or criticize them. A pilot performing this manoeuvre would be a sitting duck for a second enemy aircraft. Note: You can also use sitting-duck before a noun. When the planes reach the sitting-duck warships, the harbour is rocked by a series of huge explosions. Note: A duck is an easy target for hunters when it is sitting on the water or on the ground.
See also: duck, sitting
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

sitting duck

a person or thing with no protection against an attack or other source of danger.
See also: duck, sitting
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

a ˌsitting ˈduck/ˈtarget

a person or thing that is very easy to attack or criticize: It’s always easy to criticize teachers; they’re just sitting ducks.
See also: duck, sitting, target
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

sitting duck

n. someone who waits unsuspectingly for doom or destiny; an easy target for something bad. Get out of the way! You’re a sitting duck.
See also: duck, sitting
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

sitting duck, a

An easy target. This expression clearly alludes to the ease with which a hunter can shoot a duck that is sitting still, in contrast to one in flight. It was transferred to other enterprises in the first half of the twentieth century.
See also: sitting
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
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References in periodicals archive
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For all our considerable military might, targets in Washington and New York were sitting ducks. It was the heroics of private citizens on Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers staged a counterattack against the hijackers, that proved to be the only successful measure taken against the attackers that day.
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Large-deck, 90,000-ton carriers, these critics say, are "sitting ducks."
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A fantasy fighter-pilot says, "It goes like this: I spot a pair of B-25 bombers, a couple of sitting ducks that are no match for my Spitfire IXE fighter....
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Until then we are sitting ducks, we are easy targets."
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#Rural police claim they would be sitting ducks in the event of a terrorist attack (Mirror, May 18).
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e b But he reckons the Italians have wised up and won't be f sitting ducks as England bid to get a roll on ahead of xt weekend's potential potential G.
Catt warns fans: It might not be pretty
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