sitting duck

noun

: an easy or defenseless target

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 Matthew Stafford was a sitting duck in the Rams’ 41-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2024 Some former Secret Service officials also said the evacuation route essentially made Trump a sitting duck. Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 19 July 2024 The problems with the current metal detectors that PBC has acquired are the following: 1) slow processing, the kids are processed to slowly through the metal detectors, there are often no armed school police officers during this time, and our kids are sitting ducks. Mike Letsky, Sun Sentinel, 17 July 2024 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 See all Example Sentences for sitting duck 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of sitting duck was in 1942

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 5 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

sitting duck

noun
: an easy or defenseless target
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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