Advertisement
Advertisement
sentinel
[ sen-tn-l ]
noun
- a person or thing that watches or stands as if watching:
The cats were the sentinels of the house, patrolling constantly for rodents, dogs, and other invaders.
- a soldier stationed as a guard to challenge all comers and prevent a surprise attack:
Lincoln refused to make his home mansion a garrison during the Civil War, but plain-clothes sentinels did patrol the property
- Digital Technology. tag 1( def 9a ).
- Medicine/Medical. an indication or mark that a disease is present or prevalent:
New viruses in the wastewater can be used as sentinels of future outbreaks.
verb (used with object)
- to watch over or guard as a sentinel:
This monument sentinels each soldier's grave as a shrine.
adjective
- Medicine/Medical. relating to or being an indication of a disease's presence or prevalence:
Pregnant women attending prenatal appointments serve as a sentinel population for the prevalence of malaria in the region.
The sentinel lymph nodes are the first lymph nodes that the cancer cells reach if they spread.
sentinel
/ ˈsɛntɪnəl /
noun
- a person, such as a sentry, assigned to keep guard
- computing a character used to indicate the beginning or end of a particular block of information
verb
- to guard as a sentinel
- to post as a sentinel
- to provide with a sentinel
Discover More
Other Words From
- sen·ti·nel·like adjective
- sen·ti·nel·ship noun
- un·sen·ti·neled adjective
- un·sen·ti·nelled adjective
Discover More
Word History and Origins
Discover More
Word History and Origins
Origin of sentinel1
Discover More
Example Sentences
The program, Satellite Sentinel Project, is designed to document and deter atrocities against civilians.
Clooney heads the Satellite Sentinel Project, which monitors human rights abuses.
They were reading the Lodi News-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star and the Milwaukee Journal.
“The more I thought about it, the more sense it made,” she told the Sun-Sentinel in 1998.
A web promotion for X-Men: Days of Future Past indicated that the character had been killed by a Sentinel in 2011.
The Café tender was asleep in his chair; the porter had gone off; the sentinel alone kept awake on his post.
The sentinel was singing a sequedilla above; and its notes came to them with the wailing blast.
The sentinel stood leaning against a tree, his head on his breast, apparently sound asleep.
A few miles in advance of the island stands the beautiful Falcon Rock, like a sentinel upon the look-out.
At length he approached a sentinel, who called “halt” three times without response, and then shot the lieutenant dead.
Advertisement
Word of the Day
[tawr-choo-uhs ]
Meaning and examplesStart each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!
By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse