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Examples of sitting duck in a Sentence
The tourists were sitting ducks for local thieves.
those stupid comments just made him a sitting duck for comedians
Recent Examples on the Web
If the far right gets a majority, Macron would virtually become a sitting duck president with a hostile parliament and prime minister.
—Emma Bowman, NPR, 15 June 2024
Bud Light drops to fourth in bars and restaurants
Indeed, Anheuser-Busch—bereft of pretty much any support from either side at this point—appears to be a sitting duck.
—Bychristiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 21 July 2023
But then China and Russia showed such fat targets were sitting ducks.
—Christian Davenport, Washington Post, 2 July 2023
The rail crews were high-value targets and sitting ducks.
—Nick Yetto, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 June 2023
California ‘Like a sitting duck’: The catalytic converter theft spree is hitting old Toyota Priuses Sept. 7, 2022 Soto-Martinez also opposed the ordinance, but left the meeting before the council cast its vote.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2023
Your car, your love, your sitting duck.
—Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2011
Others couldn’t understand why the airship — a sitting duck, or at least a gently floating one — wasn’t simply taken out by the Air Force.
—Jim Robbins, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2023
Not just an Oregon Duck, Fouts was a sitting duck in a time when NFL defenders had more leeway to brutalize foes.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Jan. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sitting duck.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1942, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near sitting duck
Cite this Entry
“Sitting duck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sitting%20duck. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
Kids Definition
sitting duck
noun
: an easy or defenseless target
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