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
There is also growing concern within the House Republican caucus that Greene’s announcement is a canary in the coal mine and that multiple resignations will follow.
—
Charlie Hunt, The Conversation, 26 Dec. 2025
So is the Broomfield condo market the canary in the coal mine for the larger metro Denver housing market, a signal that the oxygen is gone and that home prices could fall across the region next year?
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 23 Dec. 2025
However, the canary in the coal mine for the broader economy is the crisis facing Black women.
—Katica Roy, Fortune, 18 Dec. 2025
Ten minutes before the event was set to end, Banks’s canary-yellow Santa SMiZE graphics filled the screens on the walls, and a DJ started looping her Christmas track.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Charlie Hunt, The Conversation, 26 Dec. 2025
So is the Broomfield condo market the canary in the coal mine for the larger metro Denver housing market, a signal that the oxygen is gone and that home prices could fall across the region next year?
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 23 Dec. 2025
However, the canary in the coal mine for the broader economy is the crisis facing Black women.
—Katica Roy, Fortune, 18 Dec. 2025
Ten minutes before the event was set to end, Banks’s canary-yellow Santa SMiZE graphics filled the screens on the walls, and a DJ started looping her Christmas track.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canary
Noun
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Investigators are using tools ranging from electronic surveillance — which includes the internet — undercover operations and informants to monitor any potential threat of attack from terrorist groups Hezbollah, al Qaeda, and ISIS.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Feb. 2026
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The sergeant said the lieutenant who would typically receive informant money had not been given any in November or December.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
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The whole family is deeply involved in the revolutionary movement: the oldest son disappears into Siberia, never to be seen or heard of again, while the youngest, eighteen, is jailed together with his father, and executed after his cell is exposed by an informer.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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And Schaeffer marveled at the gym-rat mentality Arenado brought to the baseball diamond.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
25 Feb. 2026
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The introduction of rats, dogs, cats and stoats, as well as hunting by people and destruction of native forest habitats, drove species of the country’s flourishing flightless birds — the kakapo among them — to near or complete extinction.—
Charlotte Graham-McLay,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canary. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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