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 only reason anybody learned about it was the informant’s guilty plea.—
Lars Daniel,
Forbes.com,
14 May 2026
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Lea Garofalo Lea Garofalo was an Italian civilian informant whose break with the ’Ndrangheta ended in her murder.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
13 May 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
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That is the canary in the 2 percent statistic.—
Lars Daniel,
Forbes.com,
14 May 2026
-
After Spirit Airlines ceased operations, in the middle of the night on May 2nd, a series of canary-yellow airplanes sat on the tarmac at Newark Airport, arranged neatly like children’s toys at day’s end.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
Noun
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The strain involved in the cruise ship outbreak, the Andes strain, is not found in North America and is linked to the pygmy rice rat that’s native in parts of Argentina and Chile.—
Aria Bendix,
NBC news,
12 May 2026
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The residents sheltering in place during the pandemic hit more deer, left more trash that fed more rats, all of which sustained a bigger pack of coyotes over the past year.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
Noun
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Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years.—
Donna Vickroy,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
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Kenny Jacoby is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY who uncovers issues in sports, higher education and law enforcement.—
Kenny Jacoby,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stool pigeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stool%20pigeon. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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