mine canary
figurative
noun
A person or thing acting as a danger signal; (sometimes) specifically an animal or plant whose population size, state of health, etc., is viewed as indicative of the state of the environment.
Origin
1980s; earliest use found in The Washington Post. With allusion to the practice of keeping domestic canaries in coal mines to indicate the build-up of gases.
- quadripartite
- quadripartite distinction
- quadripartite division
- quadripartite vault
- quadripartite vaulting
- quadripartition
- quadripinnate
- quadriplanar
- quadriplane
- quadriplegia
- quadriplegic
- quadriplex
- quadriplicate
- quadriplicated
- quadripolar
- quadripole
- quadriporticus
- quadriradiate
- quadrireme
- quadrisect
- quadrisection
- quadriseptate
- quadriserial
- quadrisetose
- quadrisonic