hairpin bend
1
3.7
- noun
- /ˈhɛrˌpɪn bɛnd/
- UK
:
curva cerrada
- Then the ascent of Mount Abu was not for the faint-hearted: hairpin bends, sheer drops on either side, lorries and coaches careering past us all made us wonder what on earth we had let ourselves in for.
Examples
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They follow the path, slopes, rounds, curves, turns into hairpin bends and U-turns.
Fiction book (1998) -
Two hours later, they hit a hairpin bend.
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Another hundred yards or so, another hairpin bend or two, and they had reached their destination.
Fiction book (1990) -
With its notorious twenty-one hairpin bends, it is also one of the most telegenic climbs in France.
Blog text (21) -
Outside the capital and other small towns, roads zigzag up the mountainsides with countless hairpin bends that must have tested the nerve of the Street View driver.
Blog text (29) -
As we drove along the mountain road, we encountered a sharp hairpin bend that required us to slow down significantly.
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The car experienced a sudden drop in speed as it navigated the steep hairpin bend near the cliff's edge.
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Tourists often take pictures at the scenic view points after each hairpin bend along the winding mountain pass.
Synonyms
77
1.2
A curved part of a road, river, pipe, or body
11
4.4
A sharp bend in a road, river or path
4
6.4
A path or road that zigzags up a steep slope with sharp turns
A sharp bend in a road on a very sloping hill that helps vehicles go up or down safely
Antonyms
How Tight
Surface Forms
Morphology
hairpin + bend
The meaning 'a sharp U-shaped bend' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'hairpin' (a U-shaped pin for hair) with 'bend' (a curve). The image of a bend shaped like a hairpin is literal and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Hairpin bend comes from the small metal clip used to hold hair, called a hairpin, because the road makes a tight U-shape like that clip. So a hairpin bend is a very sharp 'turn' in the road that drivers must slow down for.