Word.ws English Dictionary

hunt where the ducks were

hunt where the ducks were is the alternative form of hunt where the ducks are.

Meaning of hunt where the ducks are

Verb

hunt where the ducks are (third-person singular simple present hunts where the ducks are, present participle hunting where the ducks are, simple past and past participle hunted where the ducks were or hunted where the ducks are)

  1. (idiomatic) To seek opportunities or results in situations or places where they are most likely to be found.
    • In determining the content of his telecast [Richard] Nixon had, in the vernacular, chosen to hunt where the ducks were, i.e., he made his pitch to that vast television audience which had long shown a preference for the “I Love Lucy” show over the more erudite forms of television fare.1969, David A. Frier, Conflict of Interest in the Eisenhower Administration, Iowa State University Press, page 34

Forms of hunt where the ducks were

third-person singular presenthunts where the ducks were
present participlehunting where the ducks were
past participlehunted where the ducks were
pasthunted where the ducks were

Questions about hunt where the ducks were

What is hunt where the ducks were the alternative form of?
Hunt where the ducks were is the alternative form of hunt where the ducks are.

Words near hunt where the ducks were in the dictionary

  1. hunt seat
  2. hunt the gowk
  3. hunt the slipper
  4. hunt up
  5. hunt where the ducks are
  6. hunt where the ducks were
  7. Hunt's Cross
  8. Hunt's disease
  9. hunt's-up
  10. hunt's-ups
  11. hunt-and-peck

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hunt where the ducks were (page history and authors); hunt where the ducks are (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “hunt where the ducks were.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hunt_where_the_ducks_were. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.