From French canarie, from Spanish canario, from the Latin Canariae insulae (“Canary Islands”) (Spanish Islas Canarias); from the largest island Insula Canaria (“Dog Island" or "Canine Island”), named for its dogs, from canārius (“canine”), from canis (“dog”).
Meanings
Of a light yellow colour.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
most canary
Degree=Sup
lexicographic
more canary
Degree=Cmp
lexicographic
Translations (13)
it canarino (of a light yellow colour) · de kanariengelb (of a light yellow colour) · da kanariegul (of a light yellow colour) · sc canarinu (of a light yellow colour) · fi kanariankeltainen (of a light yellow colour) · sdn canariu (of a light yellow colour) · vo kanairakölik (of a light yellow colour) · sdc canariu (of a light yellow colour) · pt amarelo-canário (of a light yellow colour) · nl kanariegeel (of a light yellow colour) · vo kanairayelovik (of a light yellow colour) · sc canariu (of a light yellow colour) · sv kanariegul (of a light yellow colour)
From French canarie, from Spanish canario, from the Latin Canariae insulae (“Canary Islands”) (Spanish Islas Canarias); from the largest island Insula Canaria (“Dog Island" or "Canine Island”), named for its dogs, from canārius (“canine”), from canis (“dog”).
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands.
(countable, uncountable) Any of various small birds of different countries, most of which are largely yellow in colour.
(countable, informal, uncountable) A female singer, soprano, a coloratura singer.
(countable, slang, uncountable) An informer or snitch; a squealer.
(countable, uncountable) A light, slightly greenish, yellow colour.
(countable, slang, uncountable) A (usually yellow) capsule of the short-acting barbiturate pentobarbital/pentobarbitone (nembutal).
(Australia, countable, informal, uncountable) A yellow sticker applied by the police to a vehicle to indicate it is unroadworthy.
You don't have to carry a spare wheel for a car to be roadworthy, and if you *do* carry one, it doesn't have to be in a roadworthy condition *unless* you fit it [to] the car and drive on it. / If it's not and you get pinched, expect a canary... 2003 February 14, Noddy, “Spare tyres”, in aus.cars (Usenet):
Yes, if the exhaust is to noisey^([sic]) they can slap a yellow canary on it, but the[n] who cares you got rid of it. 1999 January 16, Garry Lawson, “Noisy Bikes (Update)”, in aus.motorcycles (Usenet):
The tendency in these types of situations (as far as I can see) is that because I don't think the act itself is illegal, the police will go through your vehicle systematically loking^([sic]) for anything wrong with it, to slap a canary on it (that's slang for an unroadworthy sticker) or present you with some other fine. 1993 September 12, Jacco Zwetsloot, “Warning About Speed Traps”, in alt.folklore.urban (Usenet):
(countable, uncountable) Any test subject, especially an inadvertent or unwilling one. (From the mining practice of using canaries to detect dangerous gases.)
(countable, uncountable) A value placed in memory such that it will be the first data corrupted by a buffer overflow, allowing the program to identify and recover from it.
(countable, uncountable) A change that is tested by being rolled out first to a subset of machines or users before rolling out to all.
(countable, uncountable) A light, sweet, white wine from the Canary Islands.
Or maybe you'd accept iv a couple o' bottles of claret or canaries? 1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “In Which a Liberty Is Taken with Mr. Nutter’s Name, and Mr. Dangerfield Stands at the Altar”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume II, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 234:
Ile to my honeſt knight ſir Iohn Falſtaffe, / And drinke Canary with him. c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, […] [T]he Merrie Wiues of Windsor. […] (First Quarto), London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson, […], published 1602, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
And though the annals of the period do not show us that there was less ale drawn, or less canary called for; men got dry with the heat of polemical discussion, and drunk with a text, not the fag end of a ballad, in their mouths; and people made a sort of morality of straight hair, long faces, and sad-coloured garments. 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 190:
(countable, uncountable) A lively dance, possibly of Spanish origin (also called canaries).
[…] I haue ſeen a medicine / That's able to breath life into a ſtone, / Quicken a rocke, and make you dance Canari / With ſprightly fire and motion, […] c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 235, column 2:
In an other corner, Mistris Minx, a marchants wife, that will eate no cherries, forsooth, but when they are at twentie shillings a pound, that lookes as simperingly as if she were besmeard, and iets it as gingerly as if she were dancing the canaries, […] 1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. […], London: […] [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, […], →OCLC:
(UK, countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable) A sovereign (coin).
(countable, qualifier:public transport, uncountable) A previously-issued ticket, retained by a ticket-seller, conductor or driver and resold to a subsequent passenger as a means of defrauding the transport company.
She had previously been sacked ... for "selling canaries" - a practice in which drivers resell used tickets to passengers and keep the fare for themselves. 2022 October 10, Matthew Backhouse, “Bus driver accused of pocketing fares compensated”, in The New Zealand Herald:
(UK, countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable) A prisoner or convict.
la canaria fringilla (bird from the Canary Islands) · sdn canariu (small yellow bird in general) · fr canari (bird from the Canary Islands) · fi koe-eläin (test object) · sk kanárikovo žltá (colour) · it canario (bird from the Canary Islands) · sc canarinu (small yellow bird in general) · nl kanarievogel (bird from the Canary Islands) · io kanario (bird from the Canary Islands) · ar كَنَارِي (bird from the Canary Islands) · fi vasikka (squealer) · af kanarie (bird from the Canary Islands) · vec canarìn (bird from the Canary Islands) · sdc canariu (colour) · no kanarigul (colour) · lt kanarėlė (bird from the Canary Islands) · ko 카나리아 (bird from the Canary Islands) · az sarı bülbül (bird from the Canary Islands) · hu kanárimadár (bird from the Canary Islands) · ja カナリヤ (bird from the Canary Islands) · sc canariu (bird from the Canary Islands) · ro canar (bird from the Canary Islands) · es canario (bird from the Canary Islands) · vo kanairaköl (colour) · pl kanarek (bird from the Canary Islands) · shi kalalius (Souss-Massa) (bird from the Canary Islands) · pt amarelo-canário (colour) · it spia (squealer) · hy դեղձանիկ (bird from the Canary Islands) · yi קאַנאַריק (bird from the Canary Islands) · da kanariegul (colour) · sv kanariefågel (bird from the Canary Islands) · fi kanariankeltainen (colour) · sc canariu (colour) · cs kanárkově žlutá (colour) · fr jaune canari (colour) · ro canar (squealer) · it canarino (squealer) · fi kanarialintu (small yellow bird in general) · nl kanariegeel (colour) · nds Kanaarnvagel (bird from the Canary Islands) · sc canariu (small yellow bird in general) · it delatore (squealer) · nrf canârien (bird from the Canary Islands) · el καναρίνι (small yellow bird in general) · vo kanair (bird from the Canary Islands) · nds Kanaljenvagel (bird from the Canary Islands) · no kanarifugl (bird from the Canary Islands) · mk канари́нец (bird from the Canary Islands) · sdn canariu (bird from the Canary Islands) · th นกคีรีบูน (bird from the Canary Islands) · sk kanárik (bird from the Canary Islands) · cmn 金絲雀 /金丝雀 (bird from the Canary Islands) · vi (màu) vàng nhạt (colour) · he כנרית (bird from the Canary Islands) · vo kanairayelov (colour) · nl kanarie (bird from the Canary Islands) · kum сарижымчыкъ (bird from the Canary Islands) · af kanariekleur (colour) · vi chim tước (bird from the Canary Islands) · sh kanarinac (bird from the Canary Islands) · gd canèiridh (bird from the Canary Islands) · sc canarinu (colour) · cs kanárek (bird from the Canary Islands) · ja 金糸雀色 (colour) · af Kanariese wyn (wine) · ast canariu (bird from the Canary Islands) · it canarino (bird from the Canary Islands) · tr kanarya (bird from the Canary Islands) · hu kanárisárga (colour) · fo kanarjufuglur (bird from the Canary Islands) · lb Kanarievillchen (bird from the Canary Islands) · pt canário (bird from the Canary Islands) · el καναρίνι (bird from the Canary Islands) · bg доносник (squealer) · el καναρινί (colour) · ru канаре́йка (bird from the Canary Islands) · ca canari (bird from the Canary Islands) · bg канарче (bird from the Canary Islands) · cs kanár (bird from the Canary Islands) · pap kanari (bird from the Canary Islands) · srn kanari (bird from the Canary Islands) · ja カナリア色 (colour) · pl kanarkowy (colour) · sdn canariu (colour) · ca canarí (bird from the Canary Islands) · tl kanaryo (bird from the Canary Islands) · sdc canariu (small yellow bird in general) · hu kanári (bird from the Canary Islands) · eo kanario (bird from the Canary Islands) · da kanariefugl (bird from the Canary Islands) · fi kanarialintu (bird from the Canary Islands) · de Kanariengelb (colour) · tr sarı bülbül (bird from the Canary Islands) · vi chim bạch yến (bird from the Canary Islands) · fy kanarje (bird from the Canary Islands) · nds Kanaarjenvagel (bird from the Canary Islands) · it canarino (small yellow bird in general) · de Kanarienvogel (bird from the Canary Islands) · ja 金糸雀 (bird from the Canary Islands) · vi rượu canary (wine) · ja カナリア (bird from the Canary Islands) · id kenari (bird from the Canary Islands) · sl kanarček (bird from the Canary Islands) · it vino delle canarie (wine) · sdc canariu (bird from the Canary Islands) · it giallo canarino (colour) · af kanariegeel (colour) · pt canário (dance) · fi Kanarian viini (wine) · fi kanarialintu (soprano) · sh канаринац (bird from the Canary Islands) · sc canarinu (bird from the Canary Islands)
From French canarie, from Spanish canario, from the Latin Canariae insulae (“Canary Islands”) (Spanish Islas Canarias); from the largest island Insula Canaria (“Dog Island" or "Canine Island”), named for its dogs, from canārius (“canine”), from canis (“dog”).
Meanings
(intransitive) To dance nimbly (as in the canary dance).
but to jig off a tune at / the tongue's end, canary to it with your feet, c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], line 11:
(slang) To inform or snitch, to betray secrets, especially about illegal activities.
To test a software change by rolling out to a small set of machines or users before making it available to all.