canary

ca·nary | \ kə-ˈner-ē

How to pronounce canary (audio)

\

plural canaries

Definition of canary

1 : a Canary Islands usually sweet wine similar to Madeira

2 : a lively 16th century court dance

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

4 slang : informer sense 2

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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 To track every species would be impossible, so ecologists commonly focus on those that, like canaries in coal mines, are thought to indicate when the system as a whole is beginning to suffer. — The Economist, "Scientific methods Dung beetles prefer human faeces to those of wild animals," 11 Jan. 2020 The children being hospitalized now are in a sense the country's canaries, the earliest victims of a danger to which the state can offer little response. — Caitlin Hu, CNN, "Millions in Haiti face hunger in 2020," 30 Dec. 2019 Indicator 5: Choose Your Favorite The indicators above have historically been among the most reliable canaries in the economic coal mine. — Ben Casselman, New York Times, "A Recession Hasn’t Arrived (Yet). Here’s Where You’ll See It First.," 12 Dec. 2019 Metaphorically, the animals are canaries in the climate-change coal mine. — Steve Johnson, chicagotribune.com, "The world’s coral reefs are dying. Shedd scientists in the Bahamas are searching for a chance for their survival.," 11 Dec. 2019 Dallas, Denver and Houston are the canaries in the coal mine. — Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post, "Renting remains a cheaper option than buying along Colorado’s Front Range, study finds," 6 Dec. 2019 The ornaments are 84 birds, including cardinals, chickadees, canaries, blue birds, woodpeckers, blue jays and gold finches. — cleveland, "Olmsted Falls Garden Club is busy year round: Olmsted Dates and Data," 6 Dec. 2019 The symphony of bubbling fish tanks, trilling canaries and classical music at Sonnen’s Pet Shop has flourished for eight decades in downtown St. Paul under the steady direction of the Sonnen family. — Deanna Weniger, Twin Cities, "Sonnen’s Pet Shop, virtually unchanged for over a century, won’t stay in the family after owner retires," 2 Dec. 2019 Forty years later, another plastic canary has come home to roost. — Anchorage Daily News, "Plastic discs released in the ’70s by a scientist off Alaska’s northern coast keep returning home," 30 Nov. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'canary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near canary

Canary bellflower

canarybird flower

Statistics for canary

Last Updated

21 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Canary.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canary. Accessed 21 January 2020.

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