plural canaries
1
: a Canary Islands usually sweet wine similar to Madeira
2
: a lively 16th century court dance
3
: a small finch (Serinus canaria synonym S. canarius) of the Canary Islands that is usually greenish to yellow and is kept as a cage bird and singer
4
slang
: informer sense 2
Examples of canary in a Sentence
a canary who was singing and giving up the names of some of the city's most notorious drug lords
Recent Examples on the Web
But as Malik Rahim puts it, New Orleans was just the canary in the American coal mine.
—
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2025
But the small-cap Russell 2000, the canary in the coal mine, and the old economy industrials, the DJIA, appear to be singing from a different hymn book.
—Robert Barone, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
On her laptop, a video played of a jolly British woman trying on all the yellow items in her closet—saffron, amber, daffodil, canary, flax.
—Mona Awad, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
The music world is simply the latest canary in the coalmine.
—Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
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.
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2025
But the small-cap Russell 2000, the canary in the coal mine, and the old economy industrials, the DJIA, appear to be singing from a different hymn book.
—Robert Barone, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
On her laptop, a video played of a jolly British woman trying on all the yellow items in her closet—saffron, amber, daffodil, canary, flax.
—Mona Awad, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
The music world is simply the latest canary in the coalmine.
—Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for canary
Cite this Entry
“Canary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canary. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
canary
noun
ca·nary
kə-ˈne(ə)r-ē 
plural canaries
: a small usually yellow or greenish finch native to the Canary Islands that is often kept in a cage
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share