charnel

noun

variants also charnel house
Definition of charnelnext
as in tomb

Related Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of charnel Thousands of homes and a sprawl of entire neighborhoods were transformed into outdoor charnel houses. — Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025 For the Himalayan monks of the early teen centuries, the ideal setting for initiation was a charnel ground, where people left their dead to be eaten by wild animals. — Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025 His third-floor office, in a dingy concrete building across a roaring four-lane road from the Ikeja market, is a charnel house of dead mobile phones. — Vince Beiser, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024 Out of this charnel house where an American flag hung at one end, technicians hoped to identify 388 sailors and Marines from the Oklahoma. — Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for charnel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for charnel
  1. tomb
  2. crypt
  3. vault
  4. sepulchre
  5. coffin
  6. sarcophagus
Noun
  • This brings the total tombs uncovered at the Marina el-Alamein site to 48, said The Guardian.
    — Lea Tran, TheWeek, 10 July 2026
  • Ending his life this way, in a desert tomb of family memories, would be tragically fitting, but John Sugar’s in town to facilitate a redemption arc.
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 10 July 2026
Definition of tomb
Noun
  • The hotel reopened in late 2025 as a 28-room property with a subterranean spa housing indoor and outdoor pools, two indoor saunas, a steam room and a hammam, all carved into what was once the monastery’s cellar and crypt.
    — Winston Ross, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • The cathedral, its peaceful cloister, and its ornate crypt are also worth a visit.
    — Laura Itzkowitz, Travel + Leisure, 25 June 2026
Definition of crypt
Noun
  • Some gold ETFs directly invest in bullion kept in vaults, while others invest in shares of mining companies that tend to follow the price of gold while also being swayed by the companies' management decisions, efficiency and financials.
    — Liz Knueven, CNBC, 9 July 2026
  • It was later stolen from a bank vault and hasn’t been seen in more than 200 years.
    — Lianne Kolirin, CNN Money, 8 July 2026
Definition of vault
Noun
  • The Enclave, Buick’s large, three-row crossover, has been redesigned for 2018, allowing the automaker to finally place its predecessor in a sepulchre and seal the entrance.
    — Al Haas, Philly.com, 28 June 2018
  • The Garden Tomb, is believed by many to be the garden and sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, and therefore a possible site of the resurrection of Jesus.
    — Joe Yudin, Town & Country, 5 Oct. 2016
Definition of sepulchre
Noun
  • At the ages of 15 and 12, the brothers walked shoulder-to-shoulder behind their mother Princess Diana's coffin in 1997.
    — Jennifer Hassan, USA Today, 6 July 2026
  • Mourners chanted non-stop, with no sign of the ayatollah’s coffin more than an hour after the procession’s official start time.
    — Xiaoqian Lin, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
Definition of coffin
Noun
  • This month, the hospital granted rare access to reporters from the Associated Press, allowing them into rooms that lie on either side of the centerpiece of Les Invalides, a soaring mausoleum that holds Napoleon’s sarcophagus.
    — Sylvie Corbet, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
  • This month, the hospital granted rare access to reporters from The Associated Press, allowing them into rooms that lie on either side of the centerpiece of Les Invalides, a soaring mausoleum that holds Napoleon's sarcophagus.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 May 2026
Definition of sarcophagus

Browse Nearby Words

charms
charnel
charnels
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Charnel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/charnel. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

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