sitting duck
noun
: an easy or defenseless target
Left unguarded, the fort was a sitting duck for enemy attack.
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
Club owners are kind of sitting ducks.
—
Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
Prisoners feared they were purposefully trapped in the A Tunnel, sitting ducks for a response from corrections officers.
—Michael Collins, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Those lucky/sitting ducks were at the center of a manifold creative pressure, like the core of a planet pulled spherical by gravity.
—Kate Colby
october 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
Bermuda faces a rare one-two punch Bermuda is a sitting duck in the path of twin storms that could deliver a punishing blow this week, even for the seasoned and storm-tested islands.
—Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sitting duck
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Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
Prisoners feared they were purposefully trapped in the A Tunnel, sitting ducks for a response from corrections officers.
—Michael Collins, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Those lucky/sitting ducks were at the center of a manifold creative pressure, like the core of a planet pulled spherical by gravity.
—Kate Colby
october 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
Bermuda faces a rare one-two punch Bermuda is a sitting duck in the path of twin storms that could deliver a punishing blow this week, even for the seasoned and storm-tested islands.
—Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sitting duck
Cite this Entry
“Sitting duck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sitting%20duck. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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