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
And yet the remix, featuring TikTok star Addison Rae, was the real canary in a coal mine for the whole Brat movement.
—
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024
After the woman delivered a healthy baby boy, her symptoms led to a cancer diagnosis, and doctors theorized that the NIPT had been the canary in the coal mine: Her tumors were shedding abnormal DNA into the bloodstream, which skewed the prenatal test results.
—Byjennifer Couzin-Frankel, science.org, 4 Dec. 2024
Cats, however, may turn out to be the canaries in the coalmines — pardon the mixed metaphor.
—Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
There is a loud warning in all of this, and Batman is sort of the canary in the coal mine.
—Mark Hughes, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for canary
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024
After the woman delivered a healthy baby boy, her symptoms led to a cancer diagnosis, and doctors theorized that the NIPT had been the canary in the coal mine: Her tumors were shedding abnormal DNA into the bloodstream, which skewed the prenatal test results.
—Byjennifer Couzin-Frankel, science.org, 4 Dec. 2024
Cats, however, may turn out to be the canaries in the coalmines — pardon the mixed metaphor.
—Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
There is a loud warning in all of this, and Batman is sort of the canary in the coal mine.
—Mark Hughes, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for canary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canary
Noun
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Prosecutors say some of that information, including details on informants and sensitive investigations, was included in his unpublished manuscript.—
Hannah Parry,
Newsweek,
20 Mar. 2025
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Before a warrant is issued, an officer must attest that the request for it is not based on information from informants who have provided false information that has led to negative raids in the past, the bill states.—
Jeremy Gorner,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Ukrainian soldiers began to see Russian civilians as a hindrance — or worse, as potential informers who could give away their positions.—
Ekaterina Bodyagina Nanna Heitmann,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2025
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The arrests were part of wide-ranging Establishment attacks on the new generation of pop stars in Britain at the time, done through connivance with informers and a hostile conservative media.—
Bill Wyman,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Year after year, SELF’s Sneaker Awards crown the best new pairs across every category, from lifestyle staples to gym rat favorites to pickleball trainers and everything in between.—
Paige Levinson,
SELF,
17 Mar. 2025
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George has always known how to set a clear boundary between business and pleasure (clear, but porous), and his plan to root out the rat hinges on the conviction that his colleagues aren’t so capable of drawing that line for themselves.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canary. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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