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

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

Kaegi’s coming circuit breaker proposal should be seen as a canary in a coal mine. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 13 Sep. 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