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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of canary
Not to mention, the Dutch oven is available in nine gorgeous colors, like avocado, aqua, and canary.
—
Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 9 Dec. 2025
Historically, music has been the canary in the mine for change.
—Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 4 Dec. 2025
Men in long white coats called kandura and women in flowing black abaya browse with children, hoping to take home a kitten, goldendoodle, python, canary, fish — or an African grey parrot.
—Rene Ebersole, Rolling Stone, 18 Nov. 2025
Meta’s recent mass layoffs on its AI team are a potential canary in the coal mine, signaling that AI companies might be realizing the boom is coming to an end.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 9 Dec. 2025
Historically, music has been the canary in the mine for change.
—Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 4 Dec. 2025
Men in long white coats called kandura and women in flowing black abaya browse with children, hoping to take home a kitten, goldendoodle, python, canary, fish — or an African grey parrot.
—Rene Ebersole, Rolling Stone, 18 Nov. 2025
Meta’s recent mass layoffs on its AI team are a potential canary in the coal mine, signaling that AI companies might be realizing the boom is coming to an end.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canary
Noun
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Maria is under police protection as a confidential informant, according to the Mexican officer.—
Kevin Maurer,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2026
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The only ones awaiting sentence are those who became government informants and testified against former colleagues in law enforcement.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
12 Jan. 2026
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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The animals play a vital role in the ecosystem as their diet consists of small rodents such as mice, rats and squirrels.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
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Or, more accurately, in this case, rats.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canary. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026.
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