as in piles
a small quantity of stones heaped together that usually marks a place
A cairn of loose stones marked the site.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cairns
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
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
-
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, alliances with various European powers shifted and forts rose, then fell into piles of matchsticks.—
Jeff Chu,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Feb. 2026
-
That is what remains for much of the area away from the snow piles created by plows.—
Tammie Souza,
CBS News,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Jim Lapic, master gardener with the Penn State Master Gardener Program, uses broken terracotta pots and places them along the sides of his garden mounds.—
Michelle Mastro,
Martha Stewart,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Another repost shows mounds of garbage piled up in New York City after the recent snowstorm.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Newspaper clippings, photographs and letters of support – gathered into neat stacks or placed in tidy collages – form an unofficial archive of her life’s work.—
April Quevedo,
jsonline.com,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Atwood has stacks of research for her novels in these archives.—
Will Croxton,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Boston remains blanketed in heaps of snow now more than a week and a half removed from a major snow storm.—
Mike Sullivan,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
-
When a national economic downturn ends up driving farmers from their land, fertile fields and streams — once home to the myriad insects and amphibians consumed by the storks — turn into toxic trash heaps, and the avians also suffer the consequences.—
Alissa Simon,
Variety,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cairns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairns. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
