| 单词 | mine canary |
| 释义 | > as lemmasmine canary mine canary n. [with allusion to the practice of keeping domestic canaries in coal mines to indicate the build-up of gases] figurative a person or thing acting as a danger signal; (sometimes) spec. an animal or plant whose population size, state of health, etc., is viewed as indicative of the state of the environment. ΚΠ 1974 Ecology 55 465/2 The impending extinction of the Siberian Tiger may bear the same relation to us as does the death of the mine's canary to the miners.] 1985 Washington Post (Nexis) 3 Feb. (Bk. World) 4 Artists must be capable of a childlike access to primitive impulses and perceptions. That is essential to their roles as ‘mine canaries of civilization’. 1994 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 11 Aug. 41/2 Most bird species are declining, some rapidly. They are all mine canaries now. 1998 Canad. Geographic July 41/1 These parks are acting as the mine canaries for the rest of Canada's forests. < as lemmas |
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