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
  • The Justice Department unveiled this case against it, essentially arguing that SPLC had been defrauding its donors by paying informants within far-right groups who were infiltrating those groups.
    — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 9 July 2026
  • Earlier this year, a Times investigation revealed ICE deported an informant who had turned against two of his co-defendants in a meth smuggling case.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 8 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
  • Vivani last year said pre-clinical data on the semaglutide implant in rats showed roughly 20% weight loss for over 6 months, with the potential for annual dosing.
    — Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 11 July 2026
  • Scabby, the inflatable rat, quickly made an appearance at the site.
    — D. T. Max, New Yorker, 11 July 2026
Definition of rat
Noun
  • And then there are other analysts and reporters, such as Mark Clattenburg, Geoff Shreeves, Alex Aljoe and Katie Shanahan.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 18 July 2026
  • There seems little chance that Times reporters will be in jail cells anytime soon; judges are unlikely to order that extreme step this early in the legal process.
    — Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 18 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 22 Jul. 2026.

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