corral

[ kuh-ral ]
See synonyms for: corralcorralledcorralling on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an enclosure or pen for horses, cattle, etc.

  2. a circular enclosure formed by wagons during an encampment, as by covered wagons crossing the North American plains in the 19th century, for defense against attack.

verb (used with object),cor·ralled, cor·ral·ling.
  1. to confine in or as if in a corral.

  2. Informal.

    • to seize; capture.

    • to collect, gather, or garner: to corral votes.

  1. to form (wagons) into a corral.

Origin of corral

1
1575–85; <Spanish <Late Latin *currāle enclosure for carts, equivalent to Latin curr(us) wagon, cart (derivative of currere to run) + -āle, neuter of -ālis-al1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use corral in a sentence

  • "Corralling this fire, of course," Bob panted, dashing at a marauding little flame.

    The Rules of the Game | Stewart Edward White
  • After corralling a school of sand minnows, they closed them in.

    Green Eyes | Roy J. Snell

British Dictionary definitions for corral

corral

/ (kɒˈrɑːl) /


noun
  1. mainly US and Canadian an enclosure for confining cattle or horses

  2. mainly US (formerly) a defensive enclosure formed by a ring of covered wagons

verb-rals, -ralling or -ralled (tr) US and Canadian
  1. to drive into and confine in or as in a corral

  2. informal to capture

Origin of corral

1
C16: from Spanish, from Vulgar Latin currāle (unattested) area for vehicles, from Latin currus wagon, from currere to run

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