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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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of cairn
Most of what remains of the historic General Crook Trail are eroding two tracks, toppled rock cairns, tree blazes, a few telegraph insulators and roadside monuments.
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Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 18 Apr. 2024
Last year alone, vandals sprayed red paint on trees, rocks and cairns at Acadia National Park; smashed windows and kicked in doors at Mammoth Cave National Park; and damaged the historic church at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024
Narrow passages lead into these cairns, which hold several tombs.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024
According to the park service, cairns are most commonly used to designate hiking routes.
—Alexandra E. Petri, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2023
See all Example Sentences for cairn 
Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 18 Apr. 2024
Last year alone, vandals sprayed red paint on trees, rocks and cairns at Acadia National Park; smashed windows and kicked in doors at Mammoth Cave National Park; and damaged the historic church at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024
Narrow passages lead into these cairns, which hold several tombs.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024
According to the park service, cairns are most commonly used to designate hiking routes.
—Alexandra E. Petri, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2023
See all Example Sentences for cairn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cairn
Noun
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Deep water surrounded much of the area, so someone had placed sheets of wood on top of a chain link fence and balanced both on blocks of plastic foam, creating a makeshift barge that could pull piles of debris from shore to shore. Skid loaders crisscrossed the nearby sand.Blake Nelson, The Mercury News, 12 Nov. 2024
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The zoo shared a video of the baby calf sniffing for food in a pile of glass across its social media accounts to celebrate her birth.Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The cadence of the play is clearly off, as Rizzo doesn’t charge and Cole appears to get lost in no man’s land between the pitcher’s mound and first base.Tony Blengino, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
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Despite facing long odds, Torres said the team is always confident when Cole takes the mound.Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 30 Oct. 2024
Noun
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According to a 2024 survey, more than 80% of companies plan to invest more in AI as part of their HR technology stack.Ramesh Ramani, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
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Part 1: Atlanta Ken Carson is resting his back on a pillow of money, two fat-ass stacks of dollar bills.Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Great shows are all over From pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter to a mountain of an opera (literally) to a festival devoted to Leonard Cohen, there are a ton of great shows to catch in the Bay Area this weekend.Randy McMullen, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
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The bigger issue is Johnson, who once upon a time was such a promising leading actor, a mountain of a man capable of embodying unexpected vulnerability.Alison Willmore, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Cairn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cairn. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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