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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That film generated some moody power before collapsing into a pile of surrealist-horror shards.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
20 May 2026
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Cut it up into its individual paragraphs and then put these pieces of paper in a pile.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Noun
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Cooking utensils and small mounds of clothes are kept in plastic bags or heaped on the ground.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
16 May 2026
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Kankakee Community College commit Landon Ehman finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Mason Almazan allowed one run over the final two innings to earn the victory on the mound.—
Steve Millar,
Chicago Tribune,
15 May 2026
Noun
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Grothendieck continued to come up with even more abstract and powerful concepts, including topoi, stacks, motives, and étale cohomology.—
Konstantin Kakaes,
Quanta Magazine,
20 May 2026
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Still, the New York Times reported, supporters handed out stacks of newspapers in the streets, swelling Āyandigān’s usual circulation of 300,000 to 450,000.—
April White,
JSTOR Daily,
20 May 2026
Noun
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An hour north of New York City, the Hudson Valley has turned into one of the country’s most compelling beer regions with farms, river towns, mountain backdrops, and a concentration of serious breweries that keeps growing.—
Jim Dobson,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
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Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible Saturday afternoon before a colder storm system brings widespread rain, mountain snow and a major drop in temperatures by Monday.—
Callie Zanandrie,
CBS News,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cairn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairn. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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