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
  • Nearby was the city’s Jewish graveyard, where the tombs are laid out around a steep flight of steps.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The Valley of the Kings and the tombs of Tutankhamun and Seti I.
    — Guy Bigiaoui, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of tomb
Noun
  • Michael the Lawyer and Ben the Barrel Racer go into the third crypt (Alan calls them gay Lara Crofts) and have the option of grabbing $15,000 in gold or $5,000 and a clue about the Traitors.
    — Alice Burton, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
  • For safe-keeping, the flag is displayed in very low light, giving the chamber a sacred feel, like a cathedral crypt.
    — Alec MacGillis, ProPublica, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of crypt
Noun
  • Police identified six persons of interest who work in the judiciary department and would have had access to the vault, and one of those people was currently out of the country, Tudravu said during a news conference.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
  • O'Keeffe pointed to unusually thick walls, along with a stone vault and arched stone roof, as evidence of the building's medieval past.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 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
  • The coffin with the remains arrived at a central square in Sofia, where it was welcomed by thousands of Bulgarians.
    — COSTAS KANTOURIS, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Now, the book basically confirms the GOAT’s unretirement was the nail in the coffin.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of coffin
Noun
  • The same circle of dealers also sold artworks to the Metropolitan Museum, where the New York District Attorney’s Office seized five antiquities valued collectively at more than $3 million in 2022; those included a gold sarcophagus.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 25 Aug. 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 5 Oct. 2026.

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