sentinel

[ sen-tn-l ]
See synonyms for: sentinelsentineledsentinelingsentinelled on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. 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.

  2. 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

  1. Digital Technology. tag1 (def. 9a).

  2. 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),sen·ti·neled, sen·ti·nel·ing or (especially British) sen·ti·nelled, sen·ti·nel·ling.
  1. to watch over or guard as a sentinel: This monument sentinels each soldier's grave as a shrine.

adjective
  1. 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.

Origin of sentinel

1
First recorded in 1570–80; from Middle French sentinelle, from Italian sentinella, derivative of Old Italian sentina “vigilance,” from Latin sent(īre) “to feel” + -īna -ine2

Other words for sentinel

Other words from sentinel

  • sen·ti·nel·like, adjective
  • sen·ti·nel·ship, noun
  • un·sen·ti·neled, adjective
  • un·sen·ti·nelled, adjective

Words Nearby sentinel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sentinel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sentinel

sentinel

/ (ˈsɛntɪnəl) /


noun
  1. a person, such as a sentry, assigned to keep guard

  2. computing a character used to indicate the beginning or end of a particular block of information

verb-nels, -nelling or -nelled (tr)
  1. to guard as a sentinel

  2. to post as a sentinel

  1. to provide with a sentinel

Origin of sentinel

1
C16: from Old French sentinelle, from Old Italian sentinella, from sentina watchfulness, from sentire to notice, from Latin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012