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sitting duck
Something that is unprotected and vulnerable to an easy attack. When my car broke down in a bad neighborhood, I felt like a sitting duck, just waiting to get robbed.We can't go into that area unarmed, we'd be sitting ducks!
Sitting Ducks is a lithograph created by the poster artist Michael Bedard in 1977. It depicts a literal interpretation of the idiom 'sitting duck'. Three ducks are relaxing in the sun on white chairs by the poolside, one looks up and notices two bullet holes in the wall.
- Sitting Ducks PC 'The world by duck'. (the original title of the game is 'Sitting Ducks') is a game based on a popular animated series with the same title, designed for both children and older people.
- Summary: Welcome to the whimsical world of Sitting Ducks, where life is good, food?s a plenty, and alligators are lurking in neighbouring Swampwood. One bird stands out amongst the flock? Well-liked, but seldom understood, Bill waddles to a different beat. He is a quirky, smaller than average Welcome to the whimsical world of Sitting Ducks, where life is good, food?s a plenty,.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 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.
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]
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.
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.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.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
sitting duck
Sitting Ducks Mac Games
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.
Sitting Ducks Mac Games
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.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer