miner's canary

See also: miners' canary

English
Depiction of a miner with a caged canary.

Alternative forms

Noun

miner's canary (plural miners' canaries or miner's canaries)

  1. A bird caged in mines because its death provided a warning of dangerous levels of toxic gases.
  2. (idiomatic) Anything, especially an organism, whose death or distress provides an early warning of danger.

Derived terms

See also

Further reading
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