detector vs sentinel

detector

noun
  • A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon, and that optionally sounds an alarm or triggers a warning. 

  • An indicator showing the depth of the water in a boiler. 

  • A galvanometer, usually portable, for indicating the direction of a current. 

sentinel

noun
  • A sign of a health risk (e.g. a disease, an adverse effect). 

  • A unique string of characters recognised by a computer program for processing in a special way; a keyword. 

  • A sentry, watch, or guard. 

  • A sentinel crab. 

verb
  • To post as guard. 

  • To post a guard for. 

  • To watch over as a guard. 

How often have the words detector and sentinel occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )