Sentinel

/ˈsɛn.tɪ.nəl/ · noun

Meaning

A sentry, watch, or guard..

Definitions by Sense

1. A sentry, watch, or guard.
2. (obsolete) A private soldier.
3. (computer science) A unique value recognised by a computer program for processing in a special way, or marking the end of a set of data.
4. A sentinel crab.
5. (attributive, medicine, epidemiology) A sign of a health risk (e.g. a disease, an adverse effect).
6. (transitive) To watch over as a guard.
7. (transitive) To post a guard for.

Example Sentences

They promised faithfully to bear their confinement with patience, and were very thankful that they had such good usage as to have provisions and light left them; for Friday gave them candles (such as we made ourselves) for their comfort; and they did not know but that he stood sentinel over them at the entrance.

the sentinels who paced the ramparts

that princes do keep due sentinel

“I will not permit the poorest centinel to be treated with injustice.”

The <xmp> tag is a sentinel that suspends web-page processing and displays the subsequent text literally

[…] a sentinel value that indicates a missing entry.

sentinel animals can be used to explore endemic diseases.

He sentineled the north wall.

Synonyms for sentinel

Antonyms for sentinel

Related Words

Word Forms

• sentinels
• centinel
• sentineling
• sentinelling
• sentineled
• sentinelled

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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