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sentinel

Syllabification: (sen·ti·nel)
Pronunciation: /ˈsentn-əl/
Translate sentinel | into Italian
Definition of sentinel

noun

  • a soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch.
  • Medicine a thing that acts as an indicator of the presence of disease: [as modifier]:the first national HIV sentinel surveillance program in the developing world

verb (sentinels, sentineling, sentineled ; chiefly Britishsentinels, sentinelling, sentinelled)

[with object]
  • station a soldier or guard by (a place) to keep watch:a wide course had been roped off and sentineled with police figurativetrees sentineled the trenches

Phrases

stand sentinel

(of a soldier) keep watch:soldiers stood sentinel with their muskets figurativea tall round tower standing sentinel over the river

Origin:

late 16th century: from French sentinelle, from Italian sentinella, of unknown origin

sentinel in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sentinel in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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