Meaning & use
sang like a canary
Last updated
“sang like a canary” is a form of “sing like a canary”.
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
Gave the police or an authority all the information they wanted about other people involved in a crime or secret plan.
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase in the past tense; the subject is the person who informed. The base form is 'sing like a canary'.
Patterns
- someone sang like a canary
- someone sang like a canary to the police
- someone sang like a canary about something
After hours of questioning, the driver finally sang like a canary and named everyone in the gang.
She sang like a canary to the investigators, hoping for a lighter sentence.
The company's former accountant sang like a canary about the illegal payments.
Word forms
| base form | sing like a canary |
|---|---|
| third person singular | sings like a canary |
| past tense | sang like a canary |
| past participle | sung like a canary |
| -ing form | singing like a canary |
Common combinations
- sing like a canary to the police
- He was scared, so he sang like a canary to the police.
- finally sing like a canary
- The suspect finally sang like a canary after seeing the evidence.
- sing like a canary about something
- She sang like a canary about the secret meetings.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inform on someone
- This is a neutral, more formal way to say the same thing; 'sing like a canary' is more vivid and informal.
- rat on someone
- This is very informal and often disapproving; it emphasizes betrayal more than 'sing like a canary' does.
- confess
- This means admitting your own crime, not necessarily giving information about others; 'sing like a canary' focuses on telling on other people.
Opposites
Word family
- singer noun
- A person who sings, but not related to the idiom's meaning of informing.
Commonly confused: sang like a canary or sing like a bird?
sang like a canary vs sing like a bird
A less common variant with the same meaning; 'sing like a canary' is the standard idiom.
Practice
Complete the sentence with the correct form: 'After the police promised him protection, the witness ___ like a canary.'
Choose one answer.
The sentence describes a completed past action, so the past tense 'sang' is correct. 'Sing' is the base form and does not fit the past context; 'sung' is the past participle and needs an auxiliary like 'has'; 'singing' would need a form of 'be' before it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sang like a canary”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.