as in piles
a small quantity of stones heaped together that usually marks a place
A cairn of loose stones marked the site.
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Recent Examples of cairns
Every few feet were cairns of glass swept away from shattered storefronts.
—
Nabih Bulos,
Los Angeles Times,
22 June 2026
The Park Service recommends that people not disturb, knock down or add to cairns, though some parks caution visitors not to rely on them as official pathways.
—
Noah Lyons,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Jan. 2026
Above the glacial lake Ullswater, prehistoric cairns and burial mounds dot the high moorland, including the Cockpit Stone Circle, which spans 90 feet.
—
Andrea Bussell,
Travel + Leisure,
27 Dec. 2025
Found around the perimeter ring, there are six additional cairns.
—
Mike Bezemek,
Outside,
29 Oct. 2025
Nabih Bulos,
Los Angeles Times,
22 June 2026
The Park Service recommends that people not disturb, knock down or add to cairns, though some parks caution visitors not to rely on them as official pathways.
—
Noah Lyons,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Jan. 2026
Above the glacial lake Ullswater, prehistoric cairns and burial mounds dot the high moorland, including the Cockpit Stone Circle, which spans 90 feet.
—
Andrea Bussell,
Travel + Leisure,
27 Dec. 2025
Found around the perimeter ring, there are six additional cairns.
—
Mike Bezemek,
Outside,
29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cairns
Noun
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What was left of other buildings were buried under piles of their own debris.
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Idling trucks, sandbag piles and large metal trailers stationed around a massive cold storage facility that burned for days in Boyle Heights signaled that the work to clean up millions of pounds of spoiled food and burned debris had begun Friday morning.
Noun
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Helicopter flyovers of Big Cypress National Preserve identified remote indigenous mounds, to this day largely unexplored.
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Archaeologists have determined the mounds served ceremonial, spiritual and burial functions, though many details of their cultural significance remain a mystery.
Noun
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Photos apparently taken by the men themselves show wads of cash on the seat of a car, in a plastic bag and in stacks on the floor of a location in New York.
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Long-life system design Next Hydrogen expects the electrolyzer stacks to operate for approximately 80,000 hours.
Noun
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Other video showed massive piles of debris as people climbed and searched around the colossal heaps.
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How about heaps of photos of the guys with haircuts, guyliner, and nail polish, and CD booklets sodden with semen, blood, and piss?
Cite this Entry
“Cairns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairns. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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