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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.

See Examples For:

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

Its portrait of life as a charnel house may be half the story but in this case, it’s the only half.

From New York Times May 7, 2021

As Times critic Kenneth Turan put in his original review, the film is “both audacious and astonishing, a vision of a charnel house apocalypse that comes close to defying description.”

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 8, 2019

That cause know I. But its revelation, now rendered imperative, will be like unto tearing up with irreverent hands the mysterious secrets of the charnel house beneath our feet.

From The Cavaliers of Virginia, vol. 1 of 2 or, The Recluse of Jamestown; An historical romance of the Old Dominion by Caruthers, William A. (Alexander)

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