canary

noun

ca·​nary kə-ˈner-ē 

plural canaries

1

: a Canary Islands usually sweet wine similar to Madeira

2

: a lively 16th century court dance

3

: a small finch (Serinus canaria synonym S. canarius) of the Canary Islands that is usually greenish to yellow and is kept as a cage bird and singer

4

slang : informer sense 2

Synonyms

• betrayer
• deep throat
• fink
• informant
• informer
• nark [British]
• rat
• rat fink
• snitch
• snitcher
• squealer
• stool pigeon
• stoolie
• talebearer
• tattler
• tattletale
• telltale
• whistle-blower

Examples of canary in a Sentence

a canary who was singing and giving up the names of some of the city's most notorious drug lords

Recent Examples on the Web

In a lot of ways, Yastrzemski is a canary in the coal mine. —Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024

The songbirds, like canaries and starlings and so forth. —Janna Levin, Quanta Magazine, 21 Nov. 2024

Now that the Supreme Court's unsigned order has allowed the purging to proceed, those advocates have implied that Virginia may very well be a canary in a coal mine, foreshadowing broader efforts aimed at undermining voting rights. —Beatrice Peterson, ABC News, 31 Oct. 2024

The company's transparency report has a live warrant canary. —PCMAG, 7 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle French canarie, from Old Spanish canario, from Islas Canarias Canary Islands

First Known Use

1592, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing canary

• canary seed
• canary yellow
• like the cat that ate/got/swallowed the canary

Kids Definition

canary

noun

ca·​nary kə-ˈne(ə)r-ē 

plural canaries

: a small usually yellow or greenish finch native to the Canary Islands that is often kept in a cage