canary

a yellow songbird native to the Canary Islands; a stool pigeon, informer: The traitor sang like a canary.

Not to be confused with:

cannery – a place where food is canned: The cannery produced several thousand cans of food a day.

ca·nar·y

(kə-nâr′ē)

n. pl. ca·nar·ies

1. A small finch (Serinus canaria) native to the Canary Islands that is greenish to yellow and has long been bred as a cage bird.

2. Slang

a. A woman singer.

b. An informer; a stool pigeon.

3. A sweet white wine from the Canary Islands, similar to Madeira.

4. A light to moderate or vivid yellow.

[French canari, from Spanish canario, of the Canary Islands, from (Islas) Canarias, Canary (Islands), from Late Latin Canāriae (Īnsulae), (islands) of dogs, from Latin canārius, pertaining to dogs, canine, from canis, dog; see kwon- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

canary

(kəˈnɛərɪ)

n, pl -naries

1. (Animals) a small finch, Serinus canaria, of the Canary Islands and Azores: a popular cagebird noted for its singing. Wild canaries are streaked yellow and brown, but most domestic breeds are pure yellow

2. (Colours) See canary yellow

3. history Austral a convict

4. archaic a sweet wine from the Canary Islands similar to Madeira

[C16: from Old Spanish canario of or from the Canary Islands]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ca•nar•y

(kəˈnɛər i)

n., pl. -nar•ies.

1. a small, sweetly singing greenish yellow finch, Serinus canaria, of the Canary Islands and vicinity, often a brilliant to pale yellow in varieties bred as cage birds.

2. a light, clear yellow color.

3. Slang. informer (def. 1).

4. a sweet white wine of the Canary Islands.

[1585–95; < Sp (Isla)Canaria]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	canary - someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police fink, snitch, stool pigeon, stoolie, stoolpigeon, sneaker, snitcher, sneak betrayer, blabber, informer, squealer, rat - one who reveals confidential information in return for money
	2.	canary - a female singer colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech singer, vocalist, vocalizer, vocaliser - a person who sings
	3.	canary - a moderate yellow with a greenish tinge canary yellow yellow, yellowness - yellow color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of sunflowers or ripe lemons
	4.	canary - any of several small Old World finches canary bird finch - any of numerous small songbirds with short stout bills adapted for crushing seeds genus Serinus, Serinus - Old World finches; e.g. canaries and serins common canary, Serinus canaria - native to the Canary Islands and Azores; popular usually yellow cage bird noted for its song
Adj.	1.	canary - having the color of a canary; of a light to moderate yellow canary-yellow chromatic - being or having or characterized by hue

Translations

عُصْفور كَناريكَنَاريّ

кaнaрчe

canari

kanárkanárek

kanariefugl

kanario

kanarialintu

kanarinac

kanárikanárimadárkanárisárga

burungkenari

kanarífugl

canarinocanarino domesticocanario

カナリアカナリヤ金糸雀

카나리아

canaria fringilla

kanarėlė

kanārijputniņš

kanariekanariegeelkanarievogel

kanárik

kanarček

kanariefågel

นกขมิ้น

kanarya

chim hoàng yến

金丝雀

canary

[kəˈnɛərɪ]

A. N → canario m

B. CPD the Canary Islands NPL → las Islas Canarias
canary seed N → alpiste m
canary yellow N → amarillo m canario

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

canary

[kəˈnɛəri] n → canari m, serin m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

canary

→ Kanarienvogel m

(old, = wine) → Kanarienwein m (old)

(dated US, sl, = female singer) → Sängerin f

attr (colour: also canary yellow) → kanariengelb

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

canary

[kəˈnɛərɪ] n → canarino

canary

(kəˈneəri) – plural caˈnaries – noun

a type of small, yellow, singing bird, kept as a pet.

canary

→ كَنَاريّ kanár kanariefugl Kanarienvogel καναρίνι canario kanarialintu canari kanarinac canarino カナリア 카나리아 kanarie kanarifugl kanarek canário канарейка kanariefågel นกขมิ้น kanarya chim hoàng yến 金丝雀

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Polly uttered not a syllable in reply, but swung to and fro with dignified condescension; while a pretty canary, as yellow as gold, that had lately been brought from his sunny fragrant home, began to sing aloud.

The copying-clerk, or, as the lady said, the brown field-bird, was put into a small cage, close to the Canary, and not far from "my good Polly." The only human sounds that the Parrot could bawl out were, "Come, let us be men!" Everything else that he said was as unintelligible to everybody as the chirping of the Canary, except to the clerk, who was now a bird too: he understood his companion perfectly.

View in context

Crawley, haughtily, "to call the dish as I have called it"; and it was served to us on silver soup plates by the footmen in the canary coats, with the mouton aux navets.

View in context

Mr Venus, always in exceedingly low spirits and making whimpering sounds, peers about for the stuffed canary. On his taking the candle to assist his search, Mr Wegg observes that he has a convenient little shelf near his knees, exclusively appropriated to skeleton hands, which have very much the appearance of wanting to lay hold of him.

View in context

At one house near Moorfields, they found in one of the rooms some canary birds in cages, and these they cast into the fire alive.

View in context

In a few minutes, a lovely little coach, made of glass, with lining as soft as whipped cream and chocolate pudding, and stuffed with canary feathers, pulled out of the stable.

View in context

The first was this: our ship making her course towards the Canary Islands, or rather between those islands and the African shore, was surprised in the grey of the morning by a Turkish rover of Sallee, who gave chase to us with all the sail she could make.

View in context

Some of the birds hurried off at once: one old Magpie began wrapping itself up very carefully, remarking, `I really must be getting home; the night-air doesn't suit my throat!' and a Canary called out in a trembling voice to its children, `Come away, my dears!

View in context

The nut-crackers played at leap-frog, and the slate-pencil ran about the slate; there was such a noise that the canary woke up and began to talk to them, in poetry too!

View in context

Baroness Shilton, a friend of Petritsky's, with a rosy little face and flaxen hair, resplendent in a lilac satin gown, and filling the whole room, like a canary, with her Parisian chatter, sat at the round table making coffee.

View in context

Lest anybody should feel a curiosity to know how Kit was clad, it may be briefly remarked that he wore no livery, but was dressed in a coat of pepper-and-salt with waistcoat of canary colour, and nether garments of iron-grey; besides these glories, he shone in the lustre of a new pair of boots and an extremely stiff and shiny hat, which on being struck anywhere with the knuckles, sounded like a drum.

View in context

The subject of this laudation was a very little canary, who was so tame that he was brought down by Mr.

View in context