Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of canary.
  • verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of canary.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a group of mountainous islands in the Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa forming Spanish provinces

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The term "canaries" comes from the old practice of placing canaries in cages in underground mines.

    Site Home Jason Barile 2011

  • After more than 20 months of White House insistence that the only useful role for progressive canaries is to keep singing the president's tune, the electoral coal mine is filled with the political equivalent of carbon monoxide and methane.

    Norman Solomon: Progressive Canaries in a Political Mine Norman Solomon 2010

  • After more than 20 months of White House insistence that the only useful role for progressive canaries is to keep singing the president's tune, the electoral coal mine is filled with the political equivalent of carbon monoxide and methane.

    Norman Solomon: Progressive Canaries in a Political Mine Norman Solomon 2010

  • After more than 20 months of White House insistence that the only useful role for progressive canaries is to keep singing the president's tune, the electoral coal mine is filled with the political equivalent of carbon monoxide and methane.

    Norman Solomon: Progressive Canaries in a Political Mine Norman Solomon 2010

  • After more than 20 months of White House insistence that the only useful role for progressive canaries is to keep singing the president's tune, the electoral coal mine is filled with the political equivalent of carbon monoxide and methane.

    Norman Solomon: Progressive Canaries in a Political Mine Norman Solomon 2010

  • He said that when he grew up he was going to be a merchant, and he had already begun to carry on a trade in canaries and goldfish.

    Beautiful Joe: An Autobiography 1893

  • A: You keep beating on the sides as you drive along, so that at least half of the canaries are airborne at any given moment.

    TWC’s $150 Unlimited Broadband: New Way to Fleece Customers 2009

  • The so-called canaries in the coal mine, at the poles and our planet, of course, and in warmer waters, just beneath the surface of the sea.

    CNN Transcript Oct 20, 2007 2007

  • The so-called canaries in the coal mine, at the poles and our planet, of course, and in warmer waters, just beneath the surface of the sea.

    CNN Transcript Oct 19, 2007 2007

  • They were called canaries, and the dogs were soon forgotten.

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XVIII No 3 1991

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