as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
a canary who was singing and giving up the names of some of the city's most notorious drug lords
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of canary
The record number of defaults is a canary in the coal mine for large-scale economic problems, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) warned.
—
Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
Black women are the canary in the coal mine on the health of the economy.
—Marianne Cooper, Time, 9 Sep. 2025
Incumbents know their districts best and can be canaries in the electoral coal mines, but those retirements may also put seats in play that would otherwise have been preserved.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 5 Sep. 2025
But the joblessness numbers and declining participation among Black women suggest a complication to his pronouncement and a canary in the coal mine for broader economic instability.
—Richard Fowler, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
Black women are the canary in the coal mine on the health of the economy.
—Marianne Cooper, Time, 9 Sep. 2025
Incumbents know their districts best and can be canaries in the electoral coal mines, but those retirements may also put seats in play that would otherwise have been preserved.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 5 Sep. 2025
But the joblessness numbers and declining participation among Black women suggest a complication to his pronouncement and a canary in the coal mine for broader economic instability.
—Richard Fowler, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canary
Noun
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Police learned in September that Garnett was selling meth and made several purchases of meth from Garnett using confidential informants, according to a probable cause affidavit.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Oct. 2025
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Privacy advocates have expressed concern that the company’s cameras and accompanying Neighbors app have heightened the risk of racial profiling and turned residents into informants, with few guardrails around how law enforcement can use the material.—
Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Frizer and Skeres were fraudsters, and the sinister Poley was an informer, crucial to the exposure of the Babington Plot.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
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Option 2: If one prisoner informs while the other stays silent, the informer will go free while the silent one receives the harshest sentence.—
Michael Ashley,
Forbes.com,
29 July 2025
Noun
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While searching for her first dog, Joelle Andres saw a photo of a scrappy-looking rat terrier on a pet adoption site and was immediately drawn to his face.—
Kelli Bender,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
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Cats are common sightings around feed stores and garden centers, which contain large amounts of grain and seed that can be attractive to mice and rats.—
John Raby,
Fortune,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canary. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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