as in pile
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 cairn
Most remarkable is the cairn-tomb of Gavrinis, one of Europe's great repositories of megalithic art, its interior replete with swirling patterns carved into the rock some 6,000 years ago.
—
The Week Uk, theweek, 12 Oct. 2024
The bones excavated at the site were returned to King William Island in 1994 and interred in a memorial cairn.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 11 Oct. 2024
Ranger died in 1940 and was buried at the summit of Mount Hood, which is marked by a stone cairn and an engraved plaque.
—Meira Gebel, Axios, 20 Sep. 2024
The trail can be confusing so keep an eye open for cairns and tree notches serving as trail markers.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 18 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cairn
The Week Uk, theweek, 12 Oct. 2024
The bones excavated at the site were returned to King William Island in 1994 and interred in a memorial cairn.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 11 Oct. 2024
Ranger died in 1940 and was buried at the summit of Mount Hood, which is marked by a stone cairn and an engraved plaque.
—Meira Gebel, Axios, 20 Sep. 2024
The trail can be confusing so keep an eye open for cairns and tree notches serving as trail markers.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 18 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cairn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cairn
Noun
-
It is reserved for two duck boats and vast piles of decoys.—
Worth Matthewson,
Outdoor Life,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Then began the process of trimming the pile down to a fraction of its size.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Robertson then returned to the mound for the seventh — and immediately put two on.—
Charlotte Varnes,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025
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The jar was then sealed and tucked into an ant mound to ferment overnight.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
My frustration arose in the smaller tasks, a few dishes here, day-old coffee in the pot there, a small stack of mail on the countertop, dead leaves falling off a plant, and more.—
Rebecca Jones,
Southern Living,
5 Oct. 2025
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But the evidence is there, in those stacks of photos.—
David Kamp,
New Yorker,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Officials identified the trail camera footage from the Dhofar mountains as the first time Arabian leopards had been seen preying on rock hyrax on video.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
6 Oct. 2025
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According to National Geographic, about 374 climbers from 49 countries have scaled the mountain this year.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cairn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairn. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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