canary

CEFRB2

/kəˈnɛəɹi/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A small yellow singing bird often kept as a pet.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A female singer, soprano, a coloratura singer.

Examples

  • A canary is a small bird, and people sometimes keep it as a pet.

  • I had scarcely opened the cage when the canary flew out.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /-ɾi/
  • /kəˈneɹi/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Any of various small birds of different countries, most of which are largely yellow in colour.

  2. A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands.

  3. A light, slightly greenish, yellow colour.

More examples

In context

  • Yes, if the exhaust is to noisey^([sic]) they can slap a yellow canary on it, but the[n] who cares you got rid of it.

  • Ile to my honeſt knight ſir Iohn Falſtaffe, / And drinke Canary with him.

  • Or maybe you'd accept iv a couple o' bottles of claret or canaries?

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The bright yellow blank sang beautifully inside its cage in the kitchen.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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”).