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
Black women are the canary in the coal mine on the health of the economy.
—
Marianne Cooper, Time, 9 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
Your cat, chickens, or canary could get into trouble or run out of food and water.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2025
Reed canary grass, sometimes called ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea), is a tall green perennial that grows vigorously in a variety of soils and conditions—in some case, too vigorously.
—Miranda Crowell, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Marianne Cooper, Time, 9 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
Your cat, chickens, or canary could get into trouble or run out of food and water.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2025
Reed canary grass, sometimes called ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea), is a tall green perennial that grows vigorously in a variety of soils and conditions—in some case, too vigorously.
—Miranda Crowell, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canary
Noun
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After planting the seeds of a murder-for-hire plot, Kimball reported to the FBI that Ennis was planning to have witnesses killed, and shortly thereafter, was granted confidential informant status.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
28 Sep. 2025
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The animosity between the two boiled over when suspicions grew among the Joneses that Brandon was Marty Baker’s secret informant, after a Skeet associate spotted Brandon and Baker having lunch together in Mentone.—
Mitch Moxley,
Rolling Stone,
27 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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Other live cameras monitoring elephants, lions and naked mole-rats also remain active during the shutdown.—
Sudiksha Kochi,
USA Today,
2 Oct. 2025
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An alligator's diet can include chicken liver, rats and animal parts, including bones and cartilage.—
Natalie Davies,
Freep.com,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canary. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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