How to Use canary in a Sentence

canary

noun
  • Like canaries in the coal mine ocean form.
    — Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Here’s what the canaries are telling us.
    — Big Think, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Is this the end of the road or is this the canary in the coal mine?
    — Megan Ditrolio, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2023
  • These early jolts serve as canaries in the coal mine.
    — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
  • There’s a canary in a coal mine aspect here, too.
    — Michael Podolsky, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
  • The coal-mine canary sang loudly when there was no risk or threat.
    — New York Times, 21 July 2017
  • In that way, lumber could once again be the canary in the coal mine.
    — Fortune, 2 Dec. 2021
  • There are no canaries there either.
    — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Jan. 2026
  • The canary in the coal mine right now is the mail ballot voters.
    — ABC News, 23 Jan. 2022
  • The canary for the royal coal mine was the hot equerry.
    — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The Minecraft servers were the proverbial canary in the coal mine.
    — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2021
  • Black folks have always been the canary in the coal mine in this nation.
    — Peniel E. Joseph, CNN, 21 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
  • Black women are the canary in the coal mine on the health of the economy.
    — Marianne Cooper, Time, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Maybe my left eye was an early warning system, like a canary in the coal mine.
    — Liane Kupferberg Carter, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • That is the canary in the 2 percent statistic.
    — Lars Daniel, Forbes.com, 14 May 2026
  • The proverbial canaries in coal mines will then cause a recession.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 1 Mar. 2026
  • In the world of oceans, Hammerschlag says sharks are the canary in the coal mine.
    — Louise Schiavone, Forbes, 22 Apr. 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • This is the canary in the coal mine saying, there's a big fire here and there's an even bigger one coming.
    — ABC News, 23 Jan. 2022
  • Have the wounds of the past several years left the rest of us as mentally gouged as our canary?
    — Laura Kipnis, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Your cat, chickens, or canary could get into trouble or run out of food and water.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Wayfair has been called the canary in the coalmine of the home furnishings market.
    — Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes, 6 May 2022
  • Restaurants like Taco Boy are the canary in the coal mine of local economies.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2023
  • 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
  • In the minds of some, the flowers have the appearance of miniature canaries perched on a branch.
    — Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 1 Apr. 2025
  • 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

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.

Last Updated: