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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Recent Examples of canary
Over a coffee-table interrogation, with Straus sitting in, De Vido, who has light-brown hair and wears clear oval glasses, sang like a canary.
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Naaman Zhou, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2024
If oil and gas trade is this war’s canary in the coal mine, then the expiration of Ukraine’s transit agreement with Russia this December should be viewed with alarm.
—Julian Fisher, Orange County Register, 8 Oct. 2024
Control Flow Integrity works in a similar fashion as the canaries but constrains code execution to specific pathways.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
As a reminder, the remarks noted above that Governor Newsom made at the recent tech conference would seem to be the proverbial canary in the cage.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for canary 
Naaman Zhou, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2024
If oil and gas trade is this war’s canary in the coal mine, then the expiration of Ukraine’s transit agreement with Russia this December should be viewed with alarm.
—Julian Fisher, Orange County Register, 8 Oct. 2024
Control Flow Integrity works in a similar fashion as the canaries but constrains code execution to specific pathways.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
As a reminder, the remarks noted above that Governor Newsom made at the recent tech conference would seem to be the proverbial canary in the cage.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for canary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canary
Noun
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After receiving information from this informant, authorities were able to test Gonzalez’s DNA against the Gatorade bottle and airbags in the car, when Gonzalez was arrested in an unrelated car theft investigation last April, according to court records.Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
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Intentionally or not, this makes Cal’s conversation with Armand, his unwilling informant inside Dwight’s organization, harder to take seriously.Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Given the increasingly absurd pretexts the state is using for criminal prosecution and the resounding success of informers of all stripes, the judicial crackdown will continue to worsen.Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 17 May 2024
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Standing in his way are British spies, French informers and jealous colleagues.Liza Foreman, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
Noun
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In September, Bay View residents questioned whether raccoons and other wildlife were being affected by rat poison.Gina Lee Castro, Journal Sentinel, 20 Nov. 2024
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Capsaicin can be lethal to rats and mice, and symptoms of acute oral toxicity can include a staggering gait, skin redness, and cyanosis — blue lips, nail beds, and skin due to low oxygen levels.Amiah Taylor, Discover Magazine, 13 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canary. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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