"sitting duck" meaning in English

See sitting duck in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-sitting duck.ogg Forms: sitting ducks [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} sitting duck (plural sitting ducks)
  1. (idiomatic) An obvious, vulnerable target. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: easy mark, easy target Related terms: dead duck, lame duck Translations (an obvious, vulnerable target): ле́сна пля́чка (lésna pljáčka) [feminine] (Bulgarian), maalitaulu (Finnish), cible facile [feminine] (French), leichte Beute [feminine] (German), leichtes Ziel [neuter] (German), könnyű célpont (Hungarian), könnyű préda (Hungarian), gyerekjáték eltalálni (Hungarian), bersaglio facile [masculine] (Italian), facile preda [feminine] (Italian), いい鴨 (iikamo) (Japanese), tanjona (Malagasy), łatwy cel [masculine] (Polish), łatwa zdobycz [feminine] (Polish), presa fácil [feminine] (Portuguese), pradă ușoară [feminine] (Romanian), țintă facilă [feminine] (Romanian), удо́бная ми́шень (udóbnaja míšenʹ) [feminine] (Russian), лёгкая цель (ljóxkaja celʹ) [feminine] (Russian), blanco fácil [masculine] (Spanish), presa fácil [feminine] (Spanish), pato de feria [masculine] (Spanish), lätt offer (Swedish), เป้านิ่ง (bpâo-nîng) (Thai)

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sitting ducks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sitting duck (plural sitting ducks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Malagasy translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Romanian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Thai translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "For God's sake, Sergeant, we need to get to cover – we're sitting ducks out here.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:",
          "text": "Joker: We're sitting ducks out here. I have to try to lose them in the debris field!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 February 13, Andrew E. Kramer, “‘Our Losses Were Gigantic’: Life in a Sacrificial Russian Assault Wave”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The soldiers were sitting ducks, sent forth by Russian commanders to act essentially as human cannon fodder in an assault.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An obvious, vulnerable target."
      ],
      "id": "en-sitting_duck-en-noun-jMLYVieT",
      "links": [
        [
          "obvious",
          "obvious"
        ],
        [
          "vulnerable",
          "vulnerable"
        ],
        [
          "target",
          "target"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) An obvious, vulnerable target."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "dead duck"
        },
        {
          "word": "lame duck"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "easy mark"
        },
        {
          "word": "easy target"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "lésna pljáčka",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "ле́сна пля́чка"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "word": "maalitaulu"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "cible facile"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "leichte Beute"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "leichtes Ziel"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "word": "könnyű célpont"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "word": "könnyű préda"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "word": "gyerekjáték eltalálni"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "bersaglio facile"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "facile preda"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "iikamo",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "word": "いい鴨"
        },
        {
          "code": "mg",
          "lang": "Malagasy",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "word": "tanjona"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "łatwy cel"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "łatwa zdobycz"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "presa fácil"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "pradă ușoară"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "țintă facilă"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "udóbnaja míšenʹ",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "удо́бная ми́шень"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ljóxkaja celʹ",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "лёгкая цель"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "blanco fácil"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "presa fácil"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pato de feria"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "word": "lätt offer"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "roman": "bpâo-nîng",
          "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
          "word": "เป้านิ่ง"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-sitting duck.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/ee/En-au-sitting_duck.ogg/En-au-sitting_duck.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/En-au-sitting_duck.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sitting duck"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sitting ducks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sitting duck (plural sitting ducks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "dead duck"
    },
    {
      "word": "lame duck"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "Terms with Malagasy translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Romanian translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "Terms with Thai translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "For God's sake, Sergeant, we need to get to cover – we're sitting ducks out here.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:",
          "text": "Joker: We're sitting ducks out here. I have to try to lose them in the debris field!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 February 13, Andrew E. Kramer, “‘Our Losses Were Gigantic’: Life in a Sacrificial Russian Assault Wave”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The soldiers were sitting ducks, sent forth by Russian commanders to act essentially as human cannon fodder in an assault.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An obvious, vulnerable target."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "obvious",
          "obvious"
        ],
        [
          "vulnerable",
          "vulnerable"
        ],
        [
          "target",
          "target"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) An obvious, vulnerable target."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-sitting duck.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/ee/En-au-sitting_duck.ogg/En-au-sitting_duck.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/En-au-sitting_duck.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "easy mark"
    },
    {
      "word": "easy target"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "lésna pljáčka",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "ле́сна пля́чка"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "word": "maalitaulu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cible facile"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "leichte Beute"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "leichtes Ziel"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "word": "könnyű célpont"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "word": "könnyű préda"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "word": "gyerekjáték eltalálni"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "bersaglio facile"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "facile preda"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "iikamo",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "word": "いい鴨"
    },
    {
      "code": "mg",
      "lang": "Malagasy",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "word": "tanjona"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "łatwy cel"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "łatwa zdobycz"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "presa fácil"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "pradă ușoară"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "țintă facilă"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "udóbnaja míšenʹ",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "удо́бная ми́шень"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ljóxkaja celʹ",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "лёгкая цель"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "blanco fácil"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "presa fácil"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pato de feria"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "word": "lätt offer"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "roman": "bpâo-nîng",
      "sense": "an obvious, vulnerable target",
      "word": "เป้านิ่ง"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sitting duck"
}

Download raw JSONL data for sitting duck meaning in English (5.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.