charnel

noun

variants also charnel house
Definition of charnelnext
as in tomb

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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
  • The 32-suite vessel will offer four-night voyages between Luxor and Aswan, during which guests can visit some of Egypt’s most famous archaeological sites, including the tombs of Nefertari, Seti I, Ramses VI, and King Tutankhamun.
    — Susan B. Barnes, Travel + Leisure, 29 Oct. 2026
  • For the same reasons little dogs appeared so frequently at the feet of dead women (and clerics) in tomb sculpture, plenty of Renaissance portraits feature them as a symbol of fidelity.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of tomb
Noun
  • Both in the opera and by contemporary accounts, Abraham entered his son’s crypt and had the casket opened on multiple occasions in the days after Willie died.
    — Neal Goren, Air Mail, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The grandiose panic room where Kate and Hal are locked down after the shooting was filmed in the crypt of a church on the Upper West Side.
    — Emily Zemler, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of crypt
Noun
  • The finished basement has a family room, a stone fireplace, a bar, a wine cellar, a walk-in vault and additional entertaining space.
    — Lauryn Azu, Chicago Tribune, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Whether the Falcons’ decision-makers see Penix in the same light remains locked in a vault behind closed doors, but their sample size keeps growing in a year that needs to end with a firm answer on Penix’s future.
    — Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 27 Oct. 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
  • Diversity programs requiring applicants to come from certain racial or ethnic groups have long been on legally tenuous ground, but the nail in the coffin came in 2023 when the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions in colleges.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Essentially, both cremation and coffin-burial practices are pretty bad for the environment.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of coffin
Noun
  • The limestone sarcophagus was discovered in 1820 and officially excavated in 1869 from what is now a grassy strip along the north side of the abbey’s nave.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Inside, a replica King Tut sarcophagus stood against a cinderblock wall, looking out at a table and some chairs.
    — Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 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 2 Nov. 2026.

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