| 单词 | canary in the coal mine |
| 释义 | > as lemmascanary in the coal mine P1. canary in the coal mine and variants: an early indicator of the safety, status, or outcome of a situation (now frequently in environmental contexts).With reference to the former practice (recorded from at least the beginning of the 20th century) of taking live canaries into coal mines to test for the presence of toxic gases, typically carbon monoxide; the illness or death of the canaries would serve as an indication that such gases were present. Quot. 1915 shows an earlier figurative allusion to this practice. ΚΠ 1915 Herald & News (Newberry, S. Carolina) 16 July 4/3 A Chautauqua is to a town what a canary is to a coal mine.] 1970 Audubon July 7/2 The epidemic rise of emphysema plus a plague of respiratory diseases—these are but the canary in the mine. They alert us to the ultimate catastrophe. 1992 Christian Sci. Monitor (Electronic ed.) 25 June 7 The health of salmon is a ‘canary-in-the-mine-shaft’ indicator of the ultimate well-being of the environment. 2011 S. Levy Once & Future Giants 186 The bay checkerspot was the ideal canary in the coal mine of global warming: rising temperatures would be expressed among butterflies before they would show in populations of mammals or birds. < as lemmas |
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