canary

== English == === Etymology === 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”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kəˈnɛəɹi/ (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /kəˈnɛːɹɪj/ (US) (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /kəˈnɛəɹi/, /kəˈneɹi/ (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /kəˈnɛɹi/ (Australian) IPA(key): /kəˈneːɹi/ (New Zealand) (without the cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /kəˈneəɹi/ (cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /kəˈniəɹi/ (Scotland) IPA(key): /kəˈneɾe/, /-ɾɪ/, /-ɾi/ (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA(key): /kəˈnɜːɹɪ/ Rhymes: -ɛəɹi === Noun === canary (countable and uncountable, plural canaries) A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands. Any of various small birds of different countries, most of which are largely yellow in colour. (informal) A female singer, soprano, a coloratura singer. (slang) An informer or snitch; a squealer. A light, slightly greenish, yellow colour. (slang) A (usually yellow) capsule of the short-acting barbiturate pentobarbital/pentobarbitone (nembutal). (Australia, informal) A yellow sticker applied by the police to a vehicle to indicate it is unroadworthy. Any test subject, especially an inadvertent or unwilling one. (From the mining practice of using canaries to detect dangerous gases.) (computing) 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. (computing) 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. A lively dance, possibly of Spanish origin (also called canaries). (UK, slang, obsolete) A sovereign (coin). (public transport) 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. (obsolete, UK, slang) A prisoner or convict. ==== Synonyms ==== (informant): See Thesaurus:informant ==== Hyponyms ==== Serinus canaria, Serinus pusillus, Serinus serinus ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === canary (comparative more canary, superlative most canary) Of a light yellow colour. ==== Translations ==== === Verb === canary (third-person singular simple present canaries, present participle canarying, simple past and past participle canaried) (intransitive) To dance nimbly (as in the canary dance). (slang) To inform or snitch, to betray secrets, especially about illegal activities. (software engineering) To test a software change by rolling out to a small set of machines or users before making it available to all. ==== Synonyms ==== (to inform): See Thesaurus:rat out ==== Translations ==== === See also === serin yellowhead Appendix:Colors === References ===