cairn
a heap of stones set up as a landmark, monument, tombstone, etc.
Origin of cairn
1- Also carn [kahrn] /kɑrn/ .
Other words from cairn
- cairned, adjective
- cairny, adjective
Words Nearby cairn
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use cairn in a sentence
Stumbling upon a cairn or a beautiful arrangement of leaves could bring a little burst of magic to someone’s day, and I’ve often smiled when I come upon similar projects myself.
In your exhilaration, you grab a stone and drop it on the nearest cairn as if to say, I was here!
The Ultimate Acadia National Park Travel Guide | Virginia M. Wright | February 8, 2021 | Outside OnlineOn his left hand and behind him lay the rich belt of woodland that marked the courses of the rivers Cluden and cairn.
Hunted and Harried | R.M. BallantyneHis Grace sent Castalia a beautiful wedding present: a cairn-gorm, set in solid silver.
A Charming Fellow, Volume II (of 3) | Frances Eleanor TrollopeAnd now, behold, I break open the piled stones of your cairn, and I let in the noon between your ribs.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI | Robert Louis Stevenson
My experience was such by this time that I saw at a glance this cairn was not the work of a native.
The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont | Louis de RougemontWe can go no further till we find an unrifled cairn burial answering to Homeric descriptions.
Homer and His Age | Andrew Lang
British Dictionary definitions for cairn
/ (kɛən) /
a mound of stones erected as a memorial or marker
Also called: cairn terrier a small rough-haired breed of terrier originally from Scotland
Origin of cairn
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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