Word.ws English Dictionary

canary in a coalmine

canary in a coalmine is the alternative form of canary in a coal mine.

Meaning of canary in a coal mine

Noun

canary in a coal mine (plural canaries in a coal mine or canaries in coal mines)

  1. (idiomatic) Something whose sensitivity to adverse conditions makes it a useful early indicator of such conditions; something which warns of the coming of a greater danger or trouble by a deterioration in its health or welfare.
    • "A mussel is a canary in a coal mine," Clemens explained. "When the freshwater mussels are healthy, it indicates good water quality."2003 April, “Saving the St. Joe”, in Field & Stream
    Synonyms:
    miner's canary

Forms of canary in a coalmine

pluralcanaries in a coalmine
pluralcanaries in coalmines

Questions about canary in a coalmine

What is canary in a coalmine the alternative form of?
Canary in a coalmine is the alternative form of canary in a coal mine.

Words near canary in a coalmine in the dictionary

  1. canary girl
  2. canary girls
  3. canary grass
  4. canary grasses
  5. canary in a coal mine
  6. canary in a coalmine
  7. canary in the coal mine
  8. canary in the coalmine
  9. Canary Island
  10. Canary Islander
  11. Canary Islanders

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: canary in a coalmine (page history and authors); canary in a coal mine (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “canary in a coalmine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/canary_in_a_coalmine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.