1
: a pin to hold the hair in place
specifically
: a long U-shaped pin
2
: something shaped like a hairpin
specifically
: a sharp U-shaped turn in a road
: having the shape of a hairpin
a hairpin turn
also
: having hairpin turns
a steep hairpin road
Examples of hairpin in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2024
In addition to that, Ramona wore a jeweled headpiece, and Rebel wore a decorative hairpin, both from Pronovias.
—Alexandra MacOn, Vogue, 4 Oct. 2024
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2024
Chalk it up to one more bizarre twist in an election season full of hairpin turns.
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hairpin 
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Noun
Somehow, Stanbury pulled the hairpin on the bomb and was mainly left unscathed.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2024
In addition to that, Ramona wore a jeweled headpiece, and Rebel wore a decorative hairpin, both from Pronovias.
—Alexandra MacOn, Vogue, 4 Oct. 2024
Adjective
The seven seasons are up and down with some hairpin narrative turns and character deaths being more acceptable or successful than others.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2024
Chalk it up to one more bizarre twist in an election season full of hairpin turns.
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hairpin
Dictionary Entries Near hairpin
Cite this Entry
“Hairpin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hairpin. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
hairpin
noun
hair·pin
ˈha(ə)r-ˌpin, ˈhe(ə)r- 
variants
also hairpin loop
: a region in single-stranded RNA or DNA that is double-stranded due to pairing between purine and pyrimidine bases in adjacent sequences of the RNA or DNA that are complementary and inverted
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