as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
a canary who was singing and giving up the names of some of the city's most notorious drug lords
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of canary
While the reports do give more clarity than a warrant canary, the traditional canary page has been an industry standard that many people recognize immediately.
—
PC Magazine, 20 May 2025
While in prison, Stroud began raising canaries and conducted research on birds, later publishing respected books on bird diseases.
—Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 5 May 2025
Last September, a team of researchers from SIO, La Jolla’s J. Craig Venter Institute and other organizations published a study on predicting harmful algae blooms that contain high levels of domoic acid by tracking a single gene that serves like a canary in a coal mine — an early detector of danger.
—City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2025
But Sysco’s revised forecast could be the canary in the kitchen.
—Catherine Baab, Quartz, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
PC Magazine, 20 May 2025
While in prison, Stroud began raising canaries and conducted research on birds, later publishing respected books on bird diseases.
—Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 5 May 2025
Last September, a team of researchers from SIO, La Jolla’s J. Craig Venter Institute and other organizations published a study on predicting harmful algae blooms that contain high levels of domoic acid by tracking a single gene that serves like a canary in a coal mine — an early detector of danger.
—City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2025
But Sysco’s revised forecast could be the canary in the kitchen.
—Catherine Baab, Quartz, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canary
Noun
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The documents show that RFK was a voluntary informant.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
13 June 2025
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Defense lawyers raised concerns about the informant during the trial, but the judge allowed proceedings to continue, finding no wrongdoing by prosecutors.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
6 June 2025
Noun
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Singh says that the Kashmir policy of India's Hindu nationalist government has alienated residents of Kashmir, and cost the Indian army its vital network of local informers.—
Omkar Khandekar,
NPR,
23 Apr. 2025
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The book’s cast of characters is immense, including spies and informers, dubious bankers, Mafiosos, terrorists, radical priests who support the poor, and conservatives who back right-wing dictators.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Traps to catch rats, possums, and stoats are scattered across key parts of the urban landscape, with hundreds of locals offering their gardens as trapping sites.—
Laurie Winkless,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
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Likely, species that already thrive in the subway—rats, cockroaches, pigeons, opossums—would be the first ones to take advantage of the human-free passages.—
Sarah Durn,
Popular Science,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canary. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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