sitting duck

noun
1.
a helpless or easy target or victim:
a sitting duck for shady financial schemes.
Origin
1940-45
Examples from the web for sitting duck
  • He heard them shouting as he stood in the backfield last year, a sitting duck in shoulder pads.
  • Without that gun, he could have been yet another sitting duck.
  • We can't be a sitting duck at the checkpoint with the same processes.
  • However, there is nothing lucky about becoming a sitting duck while stopped behind traffic at a light.
sitting duck in Culture

sitting duck definition


A very easy target: “His arguments were so simple, she was able to knock them down like sitting ducks.” The term comes from hunting, where it is much easier to hit ducks when they are sitting on the water than when they are in flight.

Slang definitions & phrases for sitting duck

sitting duck

noun phrase

An easy target; a totally defenseless person (1944+)


Idioms and Phrases with sitting duck

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 ]