Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A guard, especially a soldier posted at a given spot to prevent the passage of unauthorized persons.
- n. The duty of a sentry; watch.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A place of watch; a watch-tower.
- n. Watch; guard: same as sentinel, 1.
- n. One stationed as a guard: same as sentinel, 2.
- Acting as a sentry; watching.
- n. Same as centry, center.
Wiktionary
- n. A guard, particularly on duty at the entrance to a military base.
- n. uncountable Sentry duty; time spent being a sentry.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mil.) A soldier placed on guard; a sentinel.
- n. Guard; watch, as by a sentinel.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
Etymologies
- Perhaps alteration of obsolete sentrinel, variant of sentinel. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“It was pitch dark, so I called the sentry and told him some one was hurt.”
"The Red Watch" With the First Canadian Division in Flanders
“In a loud voice he called the sentry who was pacing below; and in a moment the man appeared in answer to that summons.”
“There he go back and forrards, doing what he call his sentry go.”
“I recalled the sentry's warm blood running over my hands and guiltily, reflexively wiped them on my cloak.”
“With his "inquisitive mind" and his "failing for romance," the sentry is a fantasy version of the short-sighted poet, who repeatedly tried to enlist during World War I and once almost succeeded by memorizing the eye chart.”
“The sentry was a husky woman who held the rank of corporal.”
“Bennett fidgeted with impatience, and suggested calling a sentry to evict the fakir.”
“The sentry was a grenadier; please note the accuracy of detail which should dispel any doubt as to the truth of the story -- the grenadier touch is especially convincing.”
“Who goes there?" called the sentry at the sound of approaching footsteps.”
“Then calling the sentry, I gave him a drink and a cigar, and stepping out into the hall, I began my usual march around through the upper rooms of the barracks.”
Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison Fifteen Years in Solitude
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sentry’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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What's That Pokémon Name?
Words used to create the names of Pokémon, which are usually portmanteaux.
bulb, dinosaur, ivy, venus, char, salamander, squirt, turtle, blast, tortoise, water, caterpillar and 525 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
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Masthead Staples
Words from newspaper names/titles. Not the place names or titles of specific publications, just the reusable bits.
times, courier, advocate, news, telegraph, mirror, mail, bulletin, the, post, tribune, chronical and 108 more...
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Malachi_Constant's Words
triumverate, pandemic, parsnip, delineate, zamboni, parka, laser, swoop, malevolent, benevolent, fracas, tipsy and 372 more...
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newspaper names
Feel free to combine these in any way to create your own newspaper. Use lots of hyphens! (And yes, these are all used at real newspapers.)
times, union, post, dispatch, outlook, star, news, courier, herald, advertiser, daily, eagle and 178 more...
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Terms for People
pundit, puritan, cretin, popinjay, jackanape, schlemiel, diplomat, ambassador, partisan, apostle, disciple, puppet and 71 more...
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AmorFati's list
New(ish) words..
impetus, happenstance, coup de grâce, visceral, sentient, wistful, fingerling, transcend, canted, sinew, errant, harking and 85 more...
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new words
Tacit, collusion, immediacy, cask, scrivener, swaddle, riposte, foodie, pumpernickel, impetus, tight-knit, prosletyze and 16 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for sentry.

Ido Berger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_while_on_duty Jul 6, 2010