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 proverbial canaries in coal mines will then cause a recession.
—
Jim Cramer, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2026
By crunching data from millions of monthly payroll records for workers in jobs with exposure to generative AI, the authors concluded that workers ages 22 to 25—the canaries—have seen about a 13 percent decline in employment since late 2022.
—Josh Tyrangiel, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026
There are no canaries on the Canary Islands.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Jan. 2026
While Chicago is the canary in the coal mine, the legislative resistance to choice affects the entire state.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for canary
Jim Cramer, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2026
By crunching data from millions of monthly payroll records for workers in jobs with exposure to generative AI, the authors concluded that workers ages 22 to 25—the canaries—have seen about a 13 percent decline in employment since late 2022.
—Josh Tyrangiel, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026
There are no canaries on the Canary Islands.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Jan. 2026
While Chicago is the canary in the coal mine, the legislative resistance to choice affects the entire state.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for canary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canary
Noun
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In addition to ignoring glaring inconsistencies in the sole eyewitness account, Kuby said prosecutors illegally hid from the defense benefits provided to the girl’s mom and buried evidence identifying the true killer provided by informants, who came forward years after the trial.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
28 Apr. 2026
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In another case, the SPLC said intel from the informant program was passed to law enforcement and led to the conviction of a man who lied about his ties to a white supremacist group while requesting national security clearance.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Apr. 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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The Angels went to bat against the rats, announcing that cleaning crews would get to work an hour after each game instead of waiting until the next morning.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
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The Los Angeles Angels have seemingly traded the rally monkey in for alley rats.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canary. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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