Charnel

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Charnel \Char"nel\, a. [F. charnel carnal, fleshly, fr. L.
     carnalis. See {Carnal}.]
     Containing the bodies of the dead. "Charnel vaults."
     --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     {Charnel house}, a tomb, vault, cemetery, or other place
        where the bones of the dead are deposited; originally, a
        place for the bones thrown up when digging new graves in
        old burial grounds.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Charnel \Char"nel\, n.
     A charnel house; a grave; a cemetery.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           In their proud charnel of Thermopyl[ae]. --Byron.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  charnel
       adj : gruesomely indicative of death or the dead; "a charnel smell
             came from the chest filled with dead men's bones";
             "ghastly shrieks"; "the sepulchral darkness of the
             catacombs" [syn: {ghastly}, {sepulchral}]
       n : a vault or building where corpses or bones are deposited
           [syn: {charnel house}]