Sitting Duck

Also: Like a sitting duck

Meaning of Idiom ‘A Sitting Duck’

A sitting duck is an easy target; someone who is easy to attack or criticize; someone in a very vulnerable position; someone easily caught or found. ¹,²

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Examples of Use

“If we stay here we’re sitting ducks, said the sergeant. Let’s move to a more defensible position.”

“That’s really not a good place to leave your car. In that neighborhood, it’s a sitting duck for thieves.”

“If the mayor doesn’t get ahead of this scandal, he’s a sitting duck.”

Origin

Used since the first half of the 1900s.

This idiom alludes to the relative ease of shooting a duck that is sitting in one spot, whether on the ground or in the water, as opposed to a duck that is in flight. ³

More Idioms Starting with S

• Scaredy-Cat
• Steal Someone’s Thunder
• Stand On Someone’s Shoulders
• Sleep Tight
• Screw UP

More Animal Idioms

• Copycat
• Scaredy-Cat
• Play Cat and Mouse
• Look What the Cat Dragged In
• Down the Rabbit Hole
• Beat a Dead Horse
• Monkey Around
• Go Whole Hog

More Bird Idioms

• Get Your Ducks in a Row
• Watch Like a Hawk
• Turkey Shoot
• Goose Egg
• Catbird Seat, in the
• Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

More Duck Idioms

• Get Your Ducks in a Row
• Water Off a Duck’s Back, like
• Lovely Weather for Ducks

More Sit/Sitting Idioms

References

1. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
2. Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
3. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.