lightning rod

noun

Definition of lightning rodnext
as in sitting duck

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lightning rod And that’s where Musk somehow is just able to be this movable lightning rod that can do financial alchemy, but then also this attention alchemy. — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 3 July 2026 Engelbert capitulated hours after Thomas, a lightning rod for controversy following her latest violent on-court altercation with Caitlin Clark, cast herself as the victim. — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 July 2026 The Dodgers have become a lightning rod in the big picture of baseball finances. — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 29 June 2026 The 2026 World Cup has been a lightning rod for political controversy thus far. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 19 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for lightning rod
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lightning rod
  1. sitting duck
  2. whipping boy
  3. target
  4. victim
  5. butt
  6. prey
Noun
  • Only the ridiculous American League could turn Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow from a sitting duck into a potential candidate for Executive of the Year in less than a week.
    — Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 30 June 2026
  • In Ukraine, tanks—the backbone of 20th-century armies—have become sitting ducks for drones.
    — Nancy A. Youssef, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026
Definition of sitting duck
Noun
  • The former Maple Leaf was a whipping boy in Toronto whenever the Leafs couldn't get past the second round of the playoffs, but his first postseason in Vegas has been downright magical.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 May 2026
  • The middle class or big corporations don’t want to become the mayor’s whipping boy.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 20 Feb. 2026
Definition of whipping boy
Noun
  • With that said, Spanish star Rodri will have a target on his back (or, more appropriately, his ankles).
    — Ben Church, CNN Money, 19 July 2026
  • By crunching massive amounts of data in a short time, AI can help identify and strike enemy targets.
    — Phillips Payson O’Brien, The Atlantic, 18 July 2026
Definition of target
Noun
  • Brown’s wife was Bruneau’s best friend at the time of the victim’s death, and both women worked as flight attendants for Braniff Airlines, a Grapevine police detective wrote in an arrest warrant affidavit filed in June.
    — Amy McDaniel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 July 2026
  • Numerous victims have said that their names and other sensitive information were not properly redacted in the files and criticized Blanche and the department for failing to investigate Epstein’s potential co-conspirators.
    — Ben Wieder, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
Definition of victim
Noun
  • Maintaining a flat back, hinge at your hips, push your butt back, and lower your torso.
    — Jenessa Connor, Health, 17 July 2026
  • Taco Bell has long been the butt of jokes about its menu causing intestinal concerns.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
Definition of butt
Noun
  • Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, questioned the methodology, saying researchers collected scat only along roads and trails while excluding brushy areas where wolves may eat smaller prey.
    — Scott Lebar. Story produced with AI assistance, Sacbee.com, 15 July 2026
  • Born in 1946 amid the bombing of Frankfurt, Ruppert instead developed a psychosexual cosmology that rejected neat distinctions between prey and predator.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2026
Definition of prey

Browse Nearby Words

lightning
lightning rod
lightning rods
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Cite this Entry

“Lightning rod.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lightning%20rod. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on lightning rod

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about lightning rod

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