clay pigeon

noun

1. Trapshooting, Skeet.,  a disk of baked clay or other material hurled into the air from a trap as a target.

2. Slang.,  a person in a situation likely to be taken advantage of by others.

clay pigeon

noun

1. a disc of baked clay hurled into the air from a machine as a target to be shot at

2. slang,  a person in a defenceless position; sitting duck

Word History and Origins

Origin of clay pigeon¹

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Idioms and Phrases

A person easily duped or taken advantage of, as in You're a clay pigeon for all of those telephone fund-raisers. The term alludes to the clay pigeon of trapshooting, which replaced the use of live birds in this sport in the 1860s. Its transfer to figurative use in the first half of the 1900s probably is explained by the much older slang use of pigeon for “dupe.” Also see fall guy.