Dictionary

sitting duck en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) An obvious, vulnerable target.
   • Joker: We're sitting ducks out here. I have to try to lose them in the debris field! 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:
   • The soldiers were sitting ducks, sent forth by Russian commanders to act essentially as human cannon fodder in an assault. 2023 February 13, Andrew E. Kramer, “‘Our Losses Were Gigantic’: Life in a Sacrificial Russian Assault Wave”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2023:
   • [Now that the last gay bathhouse has closed] the AIDS Action Committee will no longer have all of those sitting ducks to reach with education 1989 February 5, Christopher Wittke, “Bye Bye Bathhouse”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 29, page 16:
   • For God's sake, Sergeant, we need to get to cover – we're sitting ducks out here.

Forms

Relateds

blood in the water · easy mark · lame duck · dead duck · easy target

Translations (27)

sv lätt offer (an obvious, vulnerable target) · es pato de feria (an obvious, vulnerable target) · hu könnyű préda (an obvious, vulnerable target) · ru удо́бная ми́шень (an obvious, vulnerable target) · fr cible facile (an obvious, vulnerable target) · cs snadná kořist (an obvious, vulnerable target) · cs snadný cíl (an obvious, vulnerable target) · pt presa fácil (an obvious, vulnerable target) · ja いい鴨 (an obvious, vulnerable target) · mg tanjona (an obvious, vulnerable target) · hu gyerekjáték eltalálni (an obvious, vulnerable target) · fi maalitaulu (an obvious, vulnerable target) · de leichte Beute (an obvious, vulnerable target) · pl łatwy cel (an obvious, vulnerable target) · it bersaglio facile (an obvious, vulnerable target) · cmn 活靶子 (an obvious, vulnerable target) · es blanco fácil (an obvious, vulnerable target) · ro țintă facilă (an obvious, vulnerable target) · de leichtes Ziel (an obvious, vulnerable target) · th เป้านิ่ง (an obvious, vulnerable target) · ro pradă ușoară (an obvious, vulnerable target) · pl łatwa zdobycz (an obvious, vulnerable target) · hu könnyű célpont (an obvious, vulnerable target) · it facile preda (an obvious, vulnerable target) · es presa fácil (an obvious, vulnerable target) · ru лёгкая цель (an obvious, vulnerable target) · bg ле́сна пля́чка (an obvious, vulnerable target)