How to Use canary in a Sentence

canary

noun
  • Is this the end of the road or is this the canary in the coal mine?
    Megan Ditrolio, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2023
  • The Minecraft servers were the proverbial canary in the coal mine.
    Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2021
  • Bald eagles serve as a sort of canary in the coal mine for the health of the Great Lakes.
    Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press, 7 Aug. 2020
  • Is Twitter once again the blue canary in the coal mine?
    Alissa Walker, Curbed, 29 July 2021
  • In that way, lumber could once again be the canary in the coal mine.
    Fortune, 2 Dec. 2021
  • In the world of oceans, Hammerschlag says sharks are the canary in the coal mine.
    Louise Schiavone, Forbes, 22 Apr. 2022
  • This is the eternal test of mankind, and Jews are once more canaries in the coal mine.
    Dani Dayan, WSJ, 28 Oct. 2018
  • Like the silence of the canary in a coal mine, the death of sea corals is a heartrending metaphor.
    Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 13 May 2022
  • The canary in the coal mine right now is the mail ballot voters.
    ABC News, 23 Jan. 2022
  • 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
  • On the other hand, our world is not built for 8-ft.-tall canaries.
    Lily Rothman, Time, 7 Nov. 2019
  • Black folks have always been the canary in the coal mine in this nation.
    Peniel E. Joseph, CNN, 21 Apr. 2022
  • Restaurants like Taco Boy are the canary in the coal mine of local economies.
    Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2023
  • Charity, then, might be seen as the canary in the coal mine.
    Michael Tanner, National Review, 10 Jan. 2018
  • Some in Syria say their country was the canary in the coalmine that the world chose to ignore.
    Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, 18 Mar. 2022
  • Cats, however, may turn out to be the canaries in the coalmines — pardon the mixed metaphor.
    Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
  • Harsin has been gasping for air in the SEC ever since he was hired, and Greene is the canary in the coal mine.
    Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 26 Aug. 2022
  • Maybe the lack of buy-in by Jarron Cumberland last year was the canary in the coal mine.
    Jay Brinker, The Enquirer, 9 Apr. 2021
  • The coal-mine canary sang loudly when there was no risk or threat.
    New York Times, 21 July 2017
  • As a measure of the democratic process, the press briefing can act as the canary in the coal mine.
    Erin Blakemore, Longreads, 1 July 2017
  • The songbirds, like canaries and starlings and so forth.
    Janna Levin, Quanta Magazine, 21 Nov. 2024
  • In a lot of ways, Yastrzemski is a canary in the coal mine.
    Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
  • Dallas, Denver and Houston are the canaries in the coal mine.
    Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post, 6 Dec. 2019
  • In that sense, the demise of Europe’s business conferences is just the canary in the coal mine.
    Peter Vanham, Fortune, 5 June 2024
  • Watch that area of your garden for the first plant to have droopy leaves (that’s the canary) and check your calendar.
    Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Dec. 2021
  • Watch that area of your garden for the first plant to have droopy leaves (that’s the canary) and check your calendar.
    Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Dec. 2022
  • Wayfair has been called the canary in the coalmine of the home furnishings market.
    Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes, 6 May 2022
  • The benthic forams were the canary in the coal mine, and so too may be the sharks 19 million years ago, Sibert says.
    Connor Lynch, Discover Magazine, 15 Nov. 2021
  • Image Image The canary in the coal mine CoreWeave just pulled off the first big initial public offering this year — and the results were far from heartening.
    Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
  • The Grammy-winning rapper sparkled in a sumptuous canary gown that glinted with the help of some reflective beading.
    Edward Segarra, USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'canary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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