Canary vs. Sparrow — What's the Difference?

A small finch (Serinus canaria) native to the Canary Islands that is greenish to yellow and has long been bred as a cage bird.

Any of various small birds of the family Emberizidae, having brownish or grayish plumage and found throughout the Americas, such as the song sparrow.

A woman singer.

Any of various birds of the family Passeridae, especially the house sparrow.

An informer; a stool pigeon.

Any of various similar birds of other families, such as the Java sparrow.

A sweet white wine from the Canary Islands, similar to Madeira.

The house sparrow, Passer domesticus; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers.

A light to moderate or vivid yellow.

A member of the family Passeridae, comprising small Old World songbirds.

A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands.

A member of the family Emberizidae, comprising small New World songbirds.

Any of various small birds of different countries, most of which are largely yellow in colour.

Generically, any small, nondescript bird.

(informal) A female singer, soprano, a coloratura singer.

A quick-witted, lively person.

(slang) An informer or snitch; a squealer.

One of many species of small singing birds of the family Fringilligæ, having conical bills, and feeding chiefly on seeds. Many sparrows are called also finches, and buntings. The common sparrow, or house sparrow, of Europe (Passer domesticus) is noted for its familiarity, its voracity, its attachment to its young, and its fecundity. See House sparrow, under House.

A light, slightly greenish, yellow colour.

Any one of several small singing birds somewhat resembling the true sparrows in form or habits, as the European hedge sparrow. See under Hedge.

(slang) A (usually yellow) capsule of the short-acting barbiturate pentobarbital/pentobarbitone (Nembutal).

Any of several small dull-colored singing birds feeding on seeds or insects

A yellow sticker applied by the police to a vehicle to indicate it is unroadworthy.

Small brownish European songbird

Any test subject, especially an inadvertent or unwilling one. (From the mining practice of using canaries to detect dangerous gases.)

(computing) A value placed in memory such that it will be the first data corrupted by a buffer overflow, allowing the program to identify and recover from it.

(computing) A change that is tested by being rolled out first to a subset of machines or users before rolling out to all.

A light, sweet, white wine from the Canary Islands.

A lively dance, possibly of Spanish origin (also called canaries).

Of a light yellow colour.

(intransitive) to dance nimbly (as in the canary dance)

(slang) to inform or snitch, to betray secrets, especially about illegal activities.

(computing) to test a software change by rolling out to a small set of machines or users before making it available to all.

Of or pertaining to the Canary Islands; as, canary wine; canary birds.

Of a pale yellowish color; as, Canary stone.

Wine made in the Canary Islands; sack.

A canary bird.

A pale yellow color, like that of a canary bird.

A quick and lively dance.

To perform the canary dance; to move nimbly; to caper.

Someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police

A female singer

A moderate yellow with a greenish tinge

Any of several small Old World finches

Having the color of a canary; a light to moderate yellow