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
-
The informants don't trust the police.—
Rebecca Rosman,
NPR,
21 Mar. 2026
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That warrant stated that police had allegedly received a tip from a confidential informant who claimed to have seen large amounts of weed and money at Afroman's home.—
Angeline Jane Bernabe,
ABC News,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
The proverbial canaries in coal mines will then cause a recession.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
1 Mar. 2026
-
By crunching data from millions of monthly payroll records for workers in jobs with exposure to generative AI, the authors concluded that workers ages 22 to 25—the canaries—have seen about a 13 percent decline in employment since late 2022.—
Josh Tyrangiel,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 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
-
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 27 Mar. 2026.
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