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
Young Hopi men traditionally descended the rugged Salt Trail to the Little Colorado and Sípàapuni, contributing rocks to a cairn that still stands along the route and gathering salt to bring home.
—
Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 15 Dec. 2025
Adam picked up a stone to top off each cairn.
—Stephanie Danler, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Nov. 2025
Found around the perimeter ring, there are six additional cairns.
—Mike Bezemek, Outside, 29 Oct. 2025
Stone cairns, serpentine walls, earthen mounds, balance rocks, ancient spring wells, and interesting stone enclosures have been identified as potential early cultural evidence of pre-European native use.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for cairn
Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 15 Dec. 2025
Adam picked up a stone to top off each cairn.
—Stephanie Danler, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Nov. 2025
Found around the perimeter ring, there are six additional cairns.
—Mike Bezemek, Outside, 29 Oct. 2025
Stone cairns, serpentine walls, earthen mounds, balance rocks, ancient spring wells, and interesting stone enclosures have been identified as potential early cultural evidence of pre-European native use.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for cairn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cairn
Noun
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This dynamic creates a survival-of-the-fittest scenario where smaller companies — who can’t afford to sit on piles of unsold metals — might be forced into the arms of larger competitors.—
Tiisetso Motsoeneng,
semafor.com,
4 May 2026
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Venice is a city built on timber piles driven into mud more than a thousand years ago, its infrastructure both stubborn and fragile.—
Daniel Cassady,
ARTnews.com,
4 May 2026
Noun
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He was pulled for lefty Tyler Samaniego and walked off the mound to loud boos from the Fenway Park crowd.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
8 May 2026
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Kaitlyn Breslin and Ava Calciano each added two RBI to back Jessica Walter’s complete game on the mound.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
8 May 2026
Noun
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In collaboration with the Robotics & AI Institute, the robot has been subjected to complex full-body motions—including dynamic locomotion, aerial maneuvers, and recovery from instability—to stress-test its software stack.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
6 May 2026
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The other ingredients in Nara Smith’s TikTok recipe Beef tallow is the headline ingredient, but Nara Smith’s TikTok recipe leans on a stack of supporting ingredients that each play a specific role in skin hydration.—
Ryan Brennan
May 5,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 May 2026
Noun
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By 1890, the population of Los Angeles had nearly quintupled, and land speculation in the city’s outlying areas, from the coast to the mountains, was rampant.—
Oren Peleg,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
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South Dakota Custer State Park Resort, Custer Four historic lodges plus a variety of cabins nestle among 71,000 acres of mountains at Custer State Park.—
Jess Hoffert,
Midwest Living,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cairn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairn. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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