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
Adam picked up a stone to top off each cairn.
—
Stephanie Danler, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Nov. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for cairn
Stephanie Danler, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Nov. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for cairn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cairn
Noun
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Mendoza will mark the best moment of his life by hugging NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and throwing on the New Era 2026 NFL Draft On Stage Pre-Curved 9FIFTY Snapback Hat in Black and Silver, with a pile of skulls printed on the inside, as seen here.—
Megan Armstrong,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
-
San Jose didn’t follow through on the threats to take ownership of the property, but the city did use the receiver to coax the owner to bulldoze the property and remove piles of fire-scarred debris from the empty lots.—
George Avalos,
Mercury News,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Nola said he was unfazed by taking the mound with a huge lead.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The duel on the mound was so-so.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
This results in a fully transparent, flexible film that combines both sensing technologies in a single ultra-thin stack while maintaining optical clarity and light transmission.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Following a moderated conversation, there will be a screening of Lynne’s new film Every Contact Leaves a Trace, a rumination of memory and assumptions using as inspiration a stack of business cards collected over 40 years.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
While the deception operation was ongoing, the agency used its capabilities to track the crew member in a mountain crevice, the official said.—
Olivia Rinaldi,
CBS News,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Granville’s exploits included skiing over the Carpathian mountains during the war to deliver microfilms with cyanide sewed into her skirts and a hunting knife tucked into her trousers.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
5 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cairn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairn. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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