canaries in a coal mine

A form of canary in a coal mine — 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.

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Meanings

noun
  1. pluralplural of canary in a coal mine

    The weakest members of society become social barometers or canaries in a coal mine.

    2006, Anthony Marcus, Where Have All the Homeless Gone?: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis, Berghahn Books, →ISBN, page 152
    2 more examples

    One of the few animals to live part of its life in water and part on land, frogs are seen by some as canaries in a coal mine — which is why the chytrid fungus has environmentalists worried.

    2006 July, Steve Fennessy, “Frog Man”, in Atlanta Magazine

    Perhaps public assistance has little to do with obesity among the poor; instead, the poor may simply be canaries in a coal mine, their health suffering from environmental changes before others feel the impact.

    2009, Patricia K. Smith, Obesity Among Poor Americans: Is Public Assistance the Problem?, Vanderbilt University Press, →ISBN, page 13
Cite this entry
APA

canaries in a coal mine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canaries%20in%20a%20coal%20mine

MLA

“canaries in a coal mine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canaries%20in%20a%20coal%20mine. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “canaries in a coal mine,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canaries%20in%20a%20coal%20mine.

Source: canaries in a coal mine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.