canary
(plural – canaries)
a yellow canary
a kind of bird – song bird, related to finches; grows about 6 inches long and weighs about 15-20 grams; mostly greenish brown or gray in the wild, and in different colours, especially yellow, in the pet trade; lives up to 15 years; originally from Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands, the island countries in the Atlantic Ocean near Morocco, Africa; and now available in different colours and shapes all over the world
The noted kinds are: Island canary, wild canary and Atlantic canary.
grey-headed canary
female ~~ hen (?)
baby ~~ chick
voice ~~ twitter, trill
As Canaries calls are very melodious, they have become very popular pet birds. They are very delicate and very sensitive to the changes in the air, and so coal-miners in olden days took these birds into the mine with them to detect any poisonous gases in the mine. When there was any poisonous gas in the mine, the bird either gave out different warning calls or just died of the gas, and the miners immediately cleared the place. These birds are now used in medical research programmes. The yellow canary has been a character in comics and animated films, and is very popular with children and adults alike.
a canary = (a) a worker of firearms, such as bombs, heavy guns, etc. (b) a woman singer (c) an informer – a person who passes on secret information to the police (d) a sweet white wine from the Canary Island (e) a shade of yellow colour 2. a mountain canary or rock mountain canary = a donkey 3. hairy canary [said of something so impossible or unlikely to happen that it is not worth considering] 4. to fly canary = to give the used public transport (bus or train) tickets for new ones 5. (a) as useless as tits on a canary (b) as much use as tits on a canary [said of something that is not very useful] 6. as chippy as a canary = full of joy; happiness 7. “Give the cat a canary!” [an expression to mean: “I can’t believe it!”] 8. to look like the cat that ate the canary [said of someone who looked satisfied or guilty (?)] 9. couldn’t knock the dags off a sick canary [said of someone who cannot do anything properly] (‘dags’ = dirt) BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language.
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Tweety — the comic character canary
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About the Author:BC Kumar
