sitting duck
noun1
Idiomatic An obvious, vulnerable target.
- For God's sake, Sergeant, we need to get to cover – we're sitting ducks out here.
- [Now that the last gay bathhouse has closed] the AIDS Action Committee will no longer have all of those sitting ducks to reach with education1989 February 5, Christopher Wittke, “Bye Bye Bathhouse”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 29, page 16:
2 more examples
- Joker: We're sitting ducks out here. I have to try to lose them in the debris field!2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:
- The soldiers were sitting ducks, sent forth by Russian commanders to act essentially as human cannon fodder in an assault.2023 February 13, Andrew E. Kramer, “‘Our Losses Were Gigantic’: Life in a Sacrificial Russian Assault Wave”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2023:
- Related terms
- blood in the water, dead duck, easy mark, easy target, lame duck