hairpin

1 of 2

noun

hair·​pin ˈher-ˌpin How to pronounce hairpin (audio)
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

hairpin

2 of 2

adjective

: 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
Noun
On the move, the Shotgun delivers a surprisingly elegant ride experience; the Showa forks offering lots of front-end feel at speed, which inspires confidence through sweeping bends and hairpins alike. Charlie Thomas, Robb Report, 23 Jan. 2024 The famous Road to Hana is gorgeous, but beware that the hairpin turns may turn carsick-prone kids' stomachs. Genevieve Ko, Travel + Leisure, 31 Jan. 2024 The trailhead with a sign for the Cataract Trail is at the bottom of the hairpin. Jim Holden, The Mercury News, 8 Jan. 2024 Its hairpin, at times tenuous plot shifts and plot transitions would’ve been more forgiven and could be more fleshed out in a limited series. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2023 Most recently, a tourist was fined after using a hairpin to carve into the wall in August, NBC News reported. Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 5 Sep. 2023 Fair enough, but that story, warmly acted if clumsily executed in a series of impossible hairpin turns, isn’t as distinctive or compelling as the one the movie tells. Jesse Green, New York Times, 10 Dec. 2023 On the Lap 91 restart, Power did a much better job timing Palou’s leap and was all over the Ganassi driver’s gearbox heading into the Turn 3 hairpin. Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 4 June 2023 Views are sparse but the loop’s string of bumps, bends and hairpin turns that slingshot hikers over cottonwood-cluttered drainages, ledges and through boulder outcroppings provide plenty of entertainment. Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 2 Sep. 2023
Adjective
Elsbeth makes these hairpin turns of thought from something that seems frivolous to life-or-death serious. Adam B. Vary, Variety, 1 Mar. 2024 But Saari said the skier got loose at the wrong time and couldn’t execute a hairpin turn, which ended his first run. Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 14 Feb. 2024 Vehicles roar through elegant cities—Ravenna, Bologna, Palma, Brescia—or jostle, hub to hub, through hairpin bends, in vast volcanic landscapes that evoke another world. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2023 The front drive unit sticks with U-shaped hairpin copper wires for the stator, and silicon electronics in the inverter, but the rear drive unit moves to I-pin stator wiring and silicon carbide for the inverter, which enables higher switching frequencies. Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 11 Dec. 2023 But Frances’s night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 15 Dec. 2023 For example, hairpin legs allow more light through to provide a more open and airy look. Paige Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Nov. 2023 Built for racing and hairpin turns, FPV drones rely on a pilot’s input for every motion. Serhii Korolchuk, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2023 The woman on the cover of her book is headed up a hill and around a hairpin turn, but the author who invented her is sailing along. Stephanie Merry, Washington Post, 28 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hairpin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1771, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1887, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hairpin was in 1771

Dictionary Entries Near hairpin

Cite this Entry

“Hairpin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hairpin. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hairpin

noun
hair·​pin
-ˌpin
1
: a U-shaped pin to hold the hair in place
2
: something shaped like a hairpin
especially : an extremely sharp turn in a road
hairpin adjective

Medical Definition

hairpin

noun
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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