as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
the FBI finally got a break when one of the mob boss's top henchmen turned stool pigeon
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Recent Examples of stool pigeon
Once an unconscious stool pigeon, always an unconscious stool pigeon.
—
Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 12 Nov. 2025
Russo turned stool pigeon within a month of his November 2017 arrest for selling a kilo of cocaine to an undercover agent.
—John Annese, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2025
They are barred from using certain language during debates including git, guttersnipe, swine and stool pigeon.
—Max Colchester, WSJ, 3 Jan. 2019
Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 12 Nov. 2025
Russo turned stool pigeon within a month of his November 2017 arrest for selling a kilo of cocaine to an undercover agent.
—John Annese, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2025
They are barred from using certain language during debates including git, guttersnipe, swine and stool pigeon.
—Max Colchester, WSJ, 3 Jan. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stool pigeon
Noun
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The Weathermen and Panthers held meetings together and exchanged intel about government surveillance and police informants.—
Zayd Ayers Dohrn,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2026
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The Miami Herald has previously reported that Pretel, who ran a company known as Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and helped recruit the Colombian commandos, was an FBI informant.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
-
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
-
If the canary wouldn’t sing, if the milkman was late, if the Pekingese had fleas, if an old coot in a starched collar had a heart attack on the way to church, that was the smog.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
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The proverbial canaries in coal mines will then cause a recession.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
1 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Safety concerns ultimately arose in rat studies so further testing stopped.—
Ari Daniel,
NPR,
22 Mar. 2026
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Robinson uses rats in her research to understand how the brain adapts to emotions and how that affects behavior.—
Jen Christensen,
CNN Money,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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David’s view The voters most keen to talk with political reporters are, typically, extremely engaged in politics.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
26 Mar. 2026
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Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.—
Mike Danahey,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stool pigeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stool%20pigeon. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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