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
Leyton Cassidy, Longreads, 7 May 2024
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
See all Example Sentences for hairpin 
Noun
The switchbacks are torture: tons of little, sadistic hairpin turns.
—Leyton Cassidy, Longreads, 7 May 2024
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
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 1 Jun. 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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