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
: 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
Jason Brow, Peoplemag, 30 July 2024
Our driver navigated hairpin turns to reach the glacial Lakes of Covadonga, which sit more than 3,280 feet above sea level.
—Jessica Vincent, Travel + Leisure, 30 July 2024
Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 9 June 2024
The roller coaster features two vertical loops — one that's over 116 feet — and a series of corkscrews and hairpin turns.
—Dina Kaur, The Arizona Republic, 17 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for hairpin 
Noun
The patch of Highway 1, roughly 15 miles south of San Francisco, is known for its hairpin turns and steep seaside cliffs.
—Jason Brow, Peoplemag, 30 July 2024
Our driver navigated hairpin turns to reach the glacial Lakes of Covadonga, which sit more than 3,280 feet above sea level.
—Jessica Vincent, Travel + Leisure, 30 July 2024
Adjective
After he was nudged from behind, Josh Berry drove into traffic in the hairpin Turn 11, causing damage to at least seven cars.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 9 June 2024
The roller coaster features two vertical loops — one that's over 116 feet — and a series of corkscrews and hairpin turns.
—Dina Kaur, The Arizona Republic, 17 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for hairpin
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.
Dictionary Entries Near hairpin
Cite this Entry
“Hairpin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hairpin. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
hairpin
noun
hair·pin
ˈha(ə)r-ˌpin, ˈhe(ə)r- 
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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