sentry box
1
5.0
- noun
- /ˈsɛntri bɑks/
:
caseta de centinela
- A soldier stood watch inside the sentry box to protect himself from the rain.
Examples
-
No one was at the sentry box at the entrance.
Fiction book (1995) -
It was a steel bridge of a single span, and there was a sentry box at each end.
Academic text (1996) -
On a bench beside the sentry box sat two fascists, senior Gestapo security officers.
Fiction book (1998) -
The Bavarian lion, weeping as usual, is chained to a Prussian sentry box with a smartly uniformed Prussian on guard.
Academic text (2008) -
The sentry box at the entrance provided shelter from the harsh winter winds.
-
During the storm, the guard took refuge in the sentry box to stay dry.
Synonyms
1
8.8
A small strong concrete shelter with openings for firing guns
1
9.9
A small shelter built to protect soldiers during a battle
A small temporary shelter soldiers use while in the field
How Protective
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly compositional: a 'sentry' is a guard and a 'box' can denote a small enclosed structure, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer a small shelter for a guard. The meaning (a little shelter to protect a sentry from the weather) follows regular noun+noun compounding and is cross-linguistically transparent, even if the term is somewhat formal or slightly old-fashioned.
Etymology
The name sentry box comes from the small wooden box where a sentry stood to watch and to keep dry in bad weather. That's why sentry box means 'a small shelter with an open front' used to protect a guard.