sitting duck

English

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sitting duck

Where it comes from

From waterfowl hunting; ducks resting or swimming on the water are stationary and much easier to hit than ducks in flight; became popular military slang during World War II.

noun sitting ducks

idiomatic An obvious, vulnerable target. For God's sake, Sergeant, we need to get to cover – we're sitting ducks out here.

Translations

Every language

noun an obvious, vulnerable target

Español	blanco fácil, presa fácil, pato de feria
日本語	いい鴨 iikamo
中文	活靶子 huóbǎzi
Português	presa fácil
Français	cible facile
Deutsch	leichte Beute, leichtes Ziel
Italiano	bersaglio facile, facile preda
Română	pradă ușoară, țintă facilă
Русский	удо́бная ми́шень udóbnaja míšenʹ, лёгкая цель ljóxkaja celʹ

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MLA

"sitting duck." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sitting%20duck. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

sitting duck. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sitting%20duck

Chicago

"sitting duck." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sitting%20duck.

BibTeX

@misc{sitting_duck_2026,
  title = {sitting duck},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sitting%20duck},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}