canary

noun

ca·​nary kə-ˈner-ē How to pronounce canary (audio)
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

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 Over a coffee-table interrogation, with Straus sitting in, De Vido, who has light-brown hair and wears clear oval glasses, sang like a canary. Naaman Zhou, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2024 If oil and gas trade is this war’s canary in the coal mine, then the expiration of Ukraine’s transit agreement with Russia this December should be viewed with alarm. Julian Fisher, Orange County Register, 8 Oct. 2024 Control Flow Integrity works in a similar fashion as the canaries but constrains code execution to specific pathways. Davey Winder, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024 As a reminder, the remarks noted above that Governor Newsom made at the recent tech conference would seem to be the proverbial canary in the cage. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for canary 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'canary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of canary was in 1592

Dictionary Entries Near canary

Cite this Entry

“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canary. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

canary

noun
ca·​nary kə-ˈne(ə)r-ē How to pronounce canary (audio)
plural canaries
: a small usually yellow or greenish finch native to the Canary Islands that is often kept in a cage

More from Merriam-Webster on canary

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