# sentry

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsɛn.tɹi/ · frequency rank #26,240

## Definitions
1. A guard, particularly on duty at the entrance to a military base.
2. Sentry duty; time spent being a sentry.
3. A form of drag to be towed underwater, which on striking bottom is upset and rises to the surface.
4. A watchtower.
5. An animal like a marmot tasked with alerting the pack to danger.

## Etymology
From earlier sentrie, sentery, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of sentinel or sanctuary; or perhaps from Old French senteret (“a path”), diminutive of sentier, from Medieval Latin semitarius (“a path”).

## Easily confused with
- **sultry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sentry-vs-sultry)
- **sundry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sentry-vs-sundry)
- **sent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sent-vs-sentry)
- **señor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/senor-vs-sentry)
- **señora** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/senora-vs-sentry)
- **scenery** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scenery-vs-sentry)
- **sensory** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sensory-vs-sentry)

## Common misspellings (10)
`esntry`, `senntry`, `senrty`, `sentrry`, `sentryy`, `senttry`, `sentyr`, `setnry`, `snetry`, `ssentry`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sentry