stool pigeon

noun

Definition of stool pigeonnext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stool pigeon
  1. informant
  2. informer
  3. canary
  4. rat
  5. reporter
Noun
  • In other words, the governor of the strategically important border state of Baja California was just caught on tape offering to become an FBI informant.
    — Kevin Sieff, The Atlantic, 24 July 2026
  • Over the past four seasons, Voit has gone from being a brutal murderer to a key informant for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.
    — Hedy Phillips, PEOPLE, 23 July 2026
Definition of informant
Noun
  • One of State Security’s main goals, as well as a central source of its strength, is turning civilians into informers.
    — Abraham Jiménez Enoa, The Dial, 19 May 2026
  • And so every regime invests in having student informers.
    — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of informer
Noun
  • Kevin Tubbs grew up in a comfortable suburb outside Omaha, Nebraska, in a canary-yellow ranch house filled with dogs.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
  • Carolina Jessamine This vine with sweet-scented, canary-yellow flowers in the spring is native to the southern United States.
    — Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 9 July 2026
Definition of canary
Noun
  • Scientists like Munster are indispensable for figuring out the source of pandemic viruses, whether bats, pigs, rats, or some other animal, Andersen said.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 22 July 2026
  • Non-breeding mole-rat females are known to run high on prolactin, a hormone that also suppresses fertility during lactation in nursing mammals.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 21 July 2026
Definition of rat
Noun
  • Daily newspapers keep scores of advance obituaries on file so reporters aren’t scrambling on deadline when an important person in the community dies.
    — Suzanne Van Atten, AJC.com, 26 July 2026
  • Valkyrie is not quite open for business, but Eveland and her business partner — Valkyrie technical director Desmond Browning — gave a Statesman reporter and photographer a tour of the facility and a preview of the training that will be offered.
    — Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman, 25 July 2026
Definition of reporter

Browse Nearby Words

stoolies
stool pigeon
stool pigeons
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stool pigeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stool%20pigeon. Accessed 29 Jul. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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