Dictionary

canary in a coal mine en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (UK) audio
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

An allusion to caged canaries that miners would carry down into the mine tunnels with them. If dangerous gases, such as carbon monoxide collected in the mine, the gases would kill the canary before killing the miners, thus providing a warning to exit the tunnels immediately.

Meanings

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.
   • On the job, she was like a canary in a coal mine: If the subtle energy wasn't in balance, she was the first to notice. 2008, Jean Haner, The Wisdom of Your Face: Change Your Life With Chinese Face Reading!, Hay House, published 2008, →ISBN, page 133:
   • Thanks to rampant real estate development that revitalized the city starting in the '90s, Dublin has been something of a canary in a coal mine with regard to the global financial meltdown — the credit crunch hit here early and hard. 2009 April, Steve Kandell, “What Makes U2 Run?”, in Spin:
   • "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:

Forms

Relateds

climate canary · warrant canary · bioindicator

Synonyms

miner's canary

Translations (7)

fr canari dans une mine de charbon (early indicator) · hu kanári a szénbányában (early indicator) · fr signe avant-coureur (early indicator) · bg кана́рче във въ́глищна ми́на (early indicator) · ja 炭鉱のカナリア (early indicator) · fi kaivoksen kanarialintu (early indicator) · pl kanarek w kopalni (early indicator)