1. Any of several small Old World finches; SYN. canary bird.
2. (Informal) A female singer.
lively Renaissance courtly dance
Bird Serinus canaria of the finch family, found wild in the Canary Islands and Madeira. It is greenish with a yellow underside.
Canaries have been bred as cage birds in Europe since the 15th century, and many domestic varieties are yellow or orange.
Some canaries are used in mines as detectors of traces of poison gas in the air.