sentinels

noun

plural of sentinel
as in guardians
a person or group that watches over someone or something a lone sentinel kept watch over the fort

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sentinels In the film, robotic sentinels have been constructed to kill all mutants and any humans harboring them. — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 18 July 2026 Here and there, fire, wind, and flood would have broken the forest into a mosaic of old and new, grass and forest, shrubs and sentinels. — Literary Hub, 10 June 2026 At the end of one of the castle’s walkways, after a turn or two—by electric cart, bicycle, or on foot—and with the air filled with the scent of pine, rosemary, and jasmine, the sentinels are waiting, carved into the rock where the fort’s cannons were once located. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026 Corkie putting the snake into the tub looks like the sentinels or the wire going into people’s pods. — Nick Newman, IndieWire, 1 June 2026 And for decades, billboards with Smart’s smiling face stood like sentinels along Highway 101, silently urging anyone with information to come forward. — Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 8 May 2026 Precedent for this idea comes from Poland, where many cities already use freshwater mussels as living sentinels of water quality, wired with sensors that register when the animals clamp their shells shut in response to pollutants. — IEEE Spectrum, 31 Mar. 2026 That majestic array of green-gray gneiss sentinels may be the most conceptually elaborate Neolithic monument in Europe. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025 Arizona’s iconic saguaro cactuses seem like immobile sentinels standing watch over the Sonoran desert landscape. — John Leos, AZCentral.com, 10 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sentinels
  1. guardians
  2. guards
  3. custodians
  4. keepers
  5. wardens
  6. sentries
  7. watchmen
Noun
  • The law requires districts developing their policies to obtain input from teachers’ representatives, administrators and parents or guardians.
    — Kavin Bendre, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The legislation calls for children who need to contact their parents or guardians to use a school phone.
    — Taylor O'Connor, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of guardians
Noun
  • While rookie right tackle Monroe Freeling held up pretty well, Panthers reserve guards Chandler Zavala and Brady Christensen got beaten up inside.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 16 Aug. 2026
  • McEnroe’s testimony is particularly important, Sullivan explained, because while some of the other eyewitnesses were MSG guards or had been employed by MSG at some point, McEnroe had no such ties to the defendant.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of guards
Noun
  • Zuckerberg is referencing OpenAI and Anthropic, which operate on the premise that hyper-smart AI is both inevitable and apocalyptic—and therefore safe only in the hands of the wisest custodians (themselves).
    — Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Two school custodians have been found shot dead in a Chicago elementary school, according to Chicago ABC station WLS.
    — David Brennan, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of custodians
Noun
  • With more than 1,000 suggestions to chose from, here's the name keepers picked.
    — Finch Walker, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Free advice could always be had from tavern keepers, clergymen, neighbors or parents.
    — Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of keepers
Noun
  • The encounter fortunately ended without anyone being injured, but Parks Canada wardens were able to identify the hikers after the video was posted online and racked up millions of views.
    — Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 26 July 2026
  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — Game wardens, rescue boat teams and helicopters with hoist capability to assist with water rescues.
    — Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 14 July 2026
Definition of wardens
Noun
  • In humans, traits such as neuroticism and recklessness appear to have some evolutionary basis—emerging perhaps to provide our species with sentries who alerted us to threats, and with explorers who led the way to new food sources.
    — Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026
  • Finally, unable to stand down the household guard on her own, Alicent confesses her scheme to Helaena, who orders the sentries on the ramparts to hold fire when Rhaenyra flies in on Syrax.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 29 June 2026
Definition of sentries
Noun
  • Fiddlers played at the street corners and watchmen called out the hour of the day.
    — Danny Heitman, Christian Science Monitor, 22 July 2026
  • Francis Ford Coppola meditates on the question of who is watching the watchmen in The Conversation, a neo-noir mystery thriller about the human side of surveillance.
    — Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 6 June 2026
Definition of watchmen

Browse Nearby Words

sentinel
sentinels
sent (out)
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Cite this Entry

“Sentinels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sentinels. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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