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

Relevance

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 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
Noun
  • The actual murder sounds much more like a spontaneous crime of passion than the work of a veteran hitman exacting punishment on a guy suspected of being an FBI informant.
    — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
  • Gledhill allegedly told the informant he was buried somewhere north of their Cottonwood Heights home, per the detention hearing.
    — Toria Sheffield, People.com, 2 Mar. 2025
Definition of informant
Noun
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of informer
Noun
  • Miami-Dade is the canary in the Florida coal mine for Democrats, where Republican strength signals much wider problems.
    — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2025
  • This almost never happened with the canaries, who removed the husk with extraordinary diligence and skill.
    — Maja Mielke, JSTOR Daily, 20 Feb. 2025
Definition of canary
Noun
  • After a roll call where each reveals their imminent reprisal of fan-favorite Dimension 20 characters — including a Staten Island divorcee, a wisecracking pizza rat, and a drug dealer still coping from a breakup — the game begins.
    — Eric Francisco, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2025
  • Grissom was a baseball rat, young and versatile, sure of himself on the field and a menace in the box.
    — Chad Jennings, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
Definition of rat

Browse Nearby Words

stool pigeon
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stool pigeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stool%20pigeon. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

13 Unusually Long English Words

9 Superb Owl Words

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

13 Unusually Long English Words

9 Superb Owl Words
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
number-twelve-balloon
12-Letter Words Quiz A dozen words, a dozen letters each.
See All