like shooting fish in a barrel

Idioms  

1. Ridiculously easy, as in Setting up a computer nowadays is like shooting fish in a barrel. This hyperbolic expression alludes to the fact that fish make an easy target inside a barrel (as opposed to swimming freely in the sea). [Early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

Finding a revolutionary artist during cocktail hour at the opening gala of Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen Galleries was like shooting fish in a barrel.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

Floyd has to be able to catch enough birds to sustain his dietary needs, Moore says, and suspects that catching them is like shooting fish in a barrel given the thousands of birds there.

From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026

The rest of the first period was like shooting fish in a barrel.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 14, 2023

At this point, sending up the plain-spoken virility of Ernest Hemingway — perhaps the most parodied of all American writers — may indeed be like shooting fish in a barrel.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2019

A. At this point, I realize that jabbing at Eagles fans is like shooting fish in a barrel — or, I guess, eating horse poop off the street — but they have earned their reputation.

From Washington Post • Feb. 11, 2018