cairn
noun
\ ˈkern
\
\
Definition of cairn
: a heap of stones piled up as a memorial or as a landmark
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Other Words from cairn
cairned
\ ˈkernd
\
adjective
\
adjective
Examples of cairn in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In 1859, another explorer, Francis McClintock, found a note left in a cairn dated to April 1848. — Megan Gannon, Smithsonian, "Divers Get an Eerie First Look Inside the Arctic Shipwreck of the HMS Terror," 30 Aug. 2019 Francis Crozier left it behind inside a stony cairn on King William Island before all the crew members perished. — Meagan Flynn, Anchorage Daily News, "A doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic killed 129 men. Now the ship’s artifacts have been found ‘frozen in time.’," 29 Aug. 2019 In the millennia before that, cairns would indicate to prehistoric travelers that, yes, someone came this way before; keep going. — Rick Jordan, Condé Nast Traveler, "Too Busy to Plan? These Local Guides Will Get You Up Close and Personal," 21 Aug. 2019 Beyond the huge cairn, views of the San Francisco Peaks stand out on the northeast skyline. — Mare Czinar, azcentral, "You'll probably have the summit to yourself on this shady summer hike," 7 June 2019 The result is like a mash-up of a French pastry and an Israeli or Lebanese breakfast plate: deeply aromatic, a little savory, a case study in layers that all too quickly translates into a tiny cairn of golden flakes on your plate. — Amy Scattergood, latimes.com, "Topped with za’atar and labneh, the latest croissant at Proof Bakery is a good one," 3 June 2019 The cairn would be a series of granite river boulders, and with the aluminum butterfly would stand 12 feet tall. — Lynn Horsley, kansascity, "JoCo public art project brings out everyone's inner critic. So will it fly? | The Kansas City Star," 4 May 2018 The city has budgeted $100,000 for the cairn, or stack of rocks that form a trail marker, next to a caterpillar. — Lynn Horsley, kansascity, "JoCo public art project brings out everyone's inner critic. So will it fly? | The Kansas City Star," 4 May 2018 The 26 breeds represented range from retrievers and rottweilers to terriers (Scottish, cairn and Jack Russell), pugs and Pomeranians. — Tony Bravo, San Francisco Chronicle, "Style Radar: Farm-focused fashion, pooch pins and Rodarte," 15 Feb. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cairn.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for cairn
cairn
noun
English Language Learners Definition of cairn
: a pile of stones that marks a place (such as the place where someone is buried or a battle took place) or that shows the direction of a trail
See the full definition for cairn in the English Language Learners Dictionary