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
Zoom out on the past year’s mountain of TV, and All Her Fault is one pebble in a cairn of series positioning their female characters against abusive lovers or uniting them against a common enemy.
—
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 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
The way forward is often indiscernible, with trail markers like signs, cairns, and ribbons, few and far between.
—Olivia James, Outside Online, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cairn
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 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
The way forward is often indiscernible, with trail markers like signs, cairns, and ribbons, few and far between.
—Olivia James, Outside Online, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cairn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cairn
Noun
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Joe subtly smiled, like a Western Pennsylvania dad after his kid just lowered his shoulder and pushed the pile forward into the end zone.—
Mike DeFabo,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
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Mozilla’s cash pile is dwarfed by OpenAI, which has raised more than $60 billion from investors across the globe, and its rival Anthropic, which has raised more than $30 billion, according to PitchBook.—
Ashley Capoot,
CNBC,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The bitterly cold temperatures since the storm means mounds of snow and ice are lingering, impacting pedestrians, bus riders and more.—
Tony Aiello,
CBS News,
29 Jan. 2026
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Transfer to pastry bag fitted with star tip and pipe 8 mounds over holes on top of baba.—
Jesse Szewczyk,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But recently, a more swashbuckling caste had begun to infiltrate its stacks.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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These functions are delivered through a modular software stack that provides stable control interfaces, containerized services, and integrated tools for deployment, monitoring, and data collection.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Empower Field was the one mountain too high for even the GOAT to climb.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
25 Jan. 2026
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However, in Spain, totality occurs shortly before sunset, meaning hills, mountains, or buildings might block the view.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cairn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairn. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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