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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Hobart Police Detective Wendell Hite wrote that police dropped off a criminal informant outside the mall to buy drugs from Larkin in a black Lincoln in the parking lot.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Jan. 2026
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Adrian Jimenez, 44, met Espinoza Martinez through his small construction business, but that witness has a felony record and – unbeknownst to the Martinez – has also been working as a police informant since the 1990s.—
Sara Machi,
CBS News,
21 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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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
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Against a backdrop of teak wood and bamboo, driftwood bedposts make the mosquito nets look like chic bed drapes, while canary-yellow day beds and blinds add a ray of sunshine to even the dreariest days.—
Chris Schalkx,
Condé Nast Traveler,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The only animals Cook’s crew saw apart from wild birds were rats and chickens, both eaten.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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Testing the powder on rats fed a high-sugar diet, the team found that brushing with BSCT for just one minute a day was enough to restore the rats' oral microbiome, reduce inflammation, and kill the bacteria that causes periodontitis.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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While speaking to reporters later Wednesday, Powell was asked if the Fed had responded to the subpoenas.—
Dan Mangan,Eamon Javers,
CNBC,
28 Jan. 2026
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Indianapolis weather radar Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter.—
Karl Schneider,
IndyStar,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stool pigeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stool%20pigeon. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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