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.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, 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.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
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.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer