miner's canary

See also: miners' canary

English

Depiction of a miner with a caged canary.

Alternative forms

• canary in a coal mine, miners' canary

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

• climate canary

See also

• bioindicator

Further reading

• miner's canary on Wikipedia.Wikipedia