The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Charnel \Char"nel\, n.
   A charnel house; a grave; a cemetery.
   [1913 Webster]

         In their proud charnel of Thermopyl[ae]. --Byron.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

charnel
    adj 1: 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: charnel, ghastly, sepulchral]
    n 1: a vault or building where corpses or bones are deposited
         [syn: charnel house, charnel]