target of opportunity

target of opportunity (plural targets of opportunity)

1. (military) A target onto which one's attack is diverted as soon as it is seen or becomes known.
2. (figurative, by extension) An object to which one's efforts are diverted as soon as it becomes known.

• “target of opportunity”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “target of opportunity”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.