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
Inside every cairn, the team unearthed countless human and animal bones, often fragmented.
—
Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2025
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
Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2025
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
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Testing found that the limestone on which the foundation sat and the pile concrete were strong enough to support the building, and the basement slab showed no signs of cracking or sinking.—
Linda Robertson,
Miami Herald,
24 June 2025
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First on the docket is a pile of cords knotted together, ensnaring an eyelash curler and a pen.—
Hannah Jackson,
Vogue,
23 June 2025
Noun
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Toronto now owns a 6-2 advantage over Boston in the season series, and the Red Sox will look to bounce back and snap their skid on Saturday when Lucas Giolito (3-1, 4.53) takes the mound against Chris Bassitt (7-3, 3.61).—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
28 June 2025
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Warren, a friend and former teammate of his in the Los Angeles Angels system, jogged out to the mound.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
27 June 2025
Noun
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The end result was a stack of decisions deferring to Trump.—
Alicia Adamczyk,
Fortune,
28 June 2025
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Simply stir the zingy horseradish sauce together, and stack layers of the cold cuts and fresh veggies to build a roast beef sandwich better than anything Publix can offer.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
28 June 2025
Noun
-
Imagine standing atop a mountain, gazing at the vast landscape below, trying to make sense of the world around you.—
Ben Verghese,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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According to the zoo, the wild rodent had hitched a ride near Minturn, Colo. — a small town in the mountains outside of Aspen that is about 100 miles from Denver.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
1 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cairn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairn. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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