canary in a coal mine
Something whose sensitivity to adverse conditions makes it a useful early indicator of…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.
» This is the canary in the coal mine.
Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(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.
Examples
2 sentencesThis is the canary in the coal mine.
A canary in a coal mine served as an early warning system for carbon monoxide or other toxic gasses.
Translations
2 languagesOrigin
An allusion to caged canaries that miners would carry down into the mine tunnels with themAn 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: canaries in a coal mine / canaries in coal minesSynonyms
1 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular