Meaning of canary in the coal mine | Babel Free

Definitions

Noun. [C2]

Examples

“The second canary in the coal mine — along with the Arctic— is Antarctica, the largest mass of ice on the planet by far.”

“Many authors state, almost as a truism, that amphibians are more vulnerable to environmental insults than are other vertebrates and therefore might serve as a kind of “canary in the coal mine,” an indicator of environmental degradation (e.g., Carroll 1999).”

“Sex is the canary in the coal mine. It's the first thing to go when a marriage is in trouble.”

CEFR level