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*easy as A, B, C and *easy as falling off a log; *easy as rolling off a log; *easy as (apple) pie; *easy as duck soup
very easy. (*Also: as ~.) If you use a cake mix, baking a cake is easy as A, B, C. Mountain climbing is as easy as pie. Finding your way to the shopping center is easy as duck soup. Getting out of jail was easy as rolling off a log.
See also: easy
*sitting duck
Fig. someone or something vulnerable to attack, physical or verbal. (Alludes to a duck floating on the water, not suspecting that it is the object of a hunter or predator. *Typically: be ~; like ~; looking like~.) You look like a sitting duck out there. Get in here where the enemy cannot fire at you. The senator was a sitting duck because of his unpopular position on school reform.
See also: sitting
as a duck takes to water
Cliché easily and naturally. She took to singing just as a duck takes to water. The baby adapted to the bottle as a duck takes to water.
dead duck
Fig. someone or something that is certain to die or fail. If I fail that test, I'm a dead duck. When the outlaw drew his pistol, the sheriff knew he was a dead duck.
See also: dead
duck and cover
1. . Lit. to bend down and seek protection against an attack. When the gunfire started, we had to duck and cover or get killed.
2. Fig. to dodge something, such as an issue or a difficult question, and attempt to shield oneself against similar issues or questions. The candidate's first reaction to the question was to duck and cover. The debaters were ducking and covering throughout the evening.
duck down
to stoop down quickly, as if to avoid being hit. He ducked down when he heard the gunshot. Duck down and get out of the way.
duck out (of something)
Fig. to evade something; to escape doing something. Are you trying to duck out of your responsibility? Fred tried to duck out of going to the dance.
See also: out
duck soup
Fig. very easy; an easy thing to do. For Maria, knitting a sweater is duck soup. Jill: This jar is stuck. Could you open it for me? Jane: Sure. Duck soup.
See also: soup
get one's ducks in a row
Fig. to get one's affairs in order or organized. Jane is organized. She really gets all her ducks in a row right away. You can't hope to go into a company and sell something until you get your ducks in a row.
lame duck
1. Fig. someone who is in the last period of a term in an elective office and cannot run for reelection. You can't expect much from a lame duck. As a lame duck, there's not a lot I can do.
2. Fig. having to do with someone in the last period of a term in an elective office. (Used as an adjective; sometimes lame-duck.) You don't expect much from a lame-duck president. Lame-duck Congresses tend to do things they wouldn't dare do otherwise.
See also: lame
like water off a duck's back
Fig. easily; without any apparent effect. Insults rolled off John like water off a duck's back. The bullets had no effect on the steel door. They fell away like water off a duck's back.
Lord love a duck!
Fig. My goodness! (An exclamation of surprise.) Lord love a duck! How that rain is coming down! Lord love a duck! Did you see that cat chasing that dog?
Lovely weather for ducks, and Fine weather for ducks.
Cliché a greeting meaning that this unpleasant rainy weather must be good for something. Bill: Hi, Bob. How do you like this weather? Bob: Lovely weather for ducks. Sally: What a lot of rain! Tom: Yeah. Lovely weather for ducks. Don't care for it much myself.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
a dead duck
1. (informal) something or someone that is not successful or useful The project was a dead duck from the start due to a lack of funding. My first agent turned out to be a bit of a dead duck and he failed to find me any work.
2. (American & Australian informal) someone who is going to be punished severely for something they have done If Dad finds out you used the car, you'll be a dead duck.
See also: dead
a lame duck
1. a person or company that is in trouble and needs help In under two years, it was transformed from a state-owned lame duck into a successful company.
2. someone, especially an elected official, who cannot influence events any more, often because their job is going to end soon The Mayor intends to run for re-election to avoid being thought of as a lame duck. (mainly American)
See also: lame
a sitting duck
something or someone that is easy to attack or criticize Unarmed policemen walking the streets late at night are sitting ducks.
See also: sitting
be (like) water off a duck's back
if criticism is water off a duck's back to someone, it has no effect on them at all (often + to ) He's always being told he's lazy and incompetent, but it's just water off a duck's back to him.
be duck soup (American informal)
to be very easy to do Winning your case in court ought to be duck soup.
See also: soup
ducking and diving (informal)
if you spend your time ducking and diving, you are involved in many different activities, especially ones which are not honest 'What do you do for a living?' 'This and that, ducking and diving.'
get your ducks in a row (American informal)
to organize things well The government talks about tax changes but they won't fix a date or an amount - they just can't get their ducks in a row.
If it looks like a duck and walks/quack/flies etc. like a duck, it is a duck. (humorous)
used to say that something is probably exactly what it seems to be and we should trust our judgment about it They're calling it a clinic, not a prison, but if it looks like a duck and swims like a duck, then it is a duck, I think.
take to something like a duck to water
to learn how to do something very quickly and to enjoy doing it Sue just took to motherhood like a duck to water. He's taken to his new school like a duck to water.
See If it looks like a duck and walks etc. like a duck, it is a duck
Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission.
(as) easy as A, B, C See: (as) easy as pie
See also: easy
duck out (of somewhere)
to leave a place quickly and without being noticed The press was waiting for us in front of the hospital, so we ducked out a side door into the car.
Related vocabulary: slip away
Usage notes: often said about leaving before an event is finished: She ducked out of the dinner to watch the last quarter of the game.
See also: out
have your ducks in a row also get your ducks in a row
to organize things well I thought Mike was extremely smart and always had his ducks in a row.
Related vocabulary: put your (own) house in order
Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003. Reproduced with permission.
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