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charnel

American  
[chahr-nl] / ˈtʃɑr nl /

noun

  1. a repository for dead bodies.


adjective

  1. of, like, or fit for a charnel; deathlike; sepulchral.

charnel British  
/ ˈtʃɑːnəl /

noun

  1. short for charnel house

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. ghastly; sepulchral; deathly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of charnel

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin carnāle, noun and adjective use of neuter of carnālis carnal

Vocabulary lists containing charnel

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Out of this charnel house where an American flag hung at one end, technicians hoped to identify 388 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 8, 2024

Scaled up to a necropolis, it could make the right impression, a modernist Hooverville of death in the shadow of our great national charnel house of inaction.

From Washington Post • May 25, 2022

Above their heads: a charnel house of endangered trees.

From Scientific American • Dec. 15, 2021

The consignment of Vietnamese civilian war wounded to provincial hospitals that were little better than charnel houses has been a national scandal for the United States.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2021

Charnel, ch�r′nel, adj. of, or pertaining to, a charnel or burial-place, as in 'charnel-vault,' &c.: sepulchral, death-like.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various