sentry

American  

[sen-tree] / ˈsɛn tri /

noun

plural

sentries

1. a soldier stationed at a place to stand guard and prevent the passage of unauthorized persons, watch for fires, etc., especially a sentinel stationed at a pass, gate, opening in a defense work, or the like.

2. a member of a guard or watch.

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sentry British  

/ ˈsɛntrɪ /

noun

1. a soldier who guards or prevents unauthorized access to a place, keeps watch for danger, etc

2. the watch kept by a sentry

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Etymology

Origin of sentry

1605–15; short for sentrinel, variant of sentinel

Example Sentences

More Peshmerga are dotted around on the hilltops standing sentry – a low-tech early warning system for incoming drones.

From BBC

A military sentry stands guard at the gate.

From Literature

Instead, she said the agreement was around an "Arctic sentry" allowing Nato countries to work together on a "shared threat" with "different Arctic countries coming together, supported by other Nato countries".

From BBC

We set skeletons on either side of the mirror to stand sentry.

From Literature

An outpost for 30 soldiers with a couple of sentry points and barracks will burn through about 13 gallons of fuel a day.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• sentinel