Meaning & use

cairn

noun·Advanced

A man-made pile of stones, often used as a trail marker or memorial in the wilderness.

See it in a sentence

Hikers stacked a small cairn to mark the turn where the trail became hard to see.

Ancient cairns dotted the hillside, believed to mark burial sites from centuries ago.

A note on using this word

Cairns are used both practically, to guide hikers, and historically, as burial or memorial markers, especially in Celtic regions.

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