corral
Americannoun
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an enclosure or pen for horses, cattle, etc.
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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)
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to confine in or as if in a corral.
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Informal.
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to seize; capture.
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to collect, gather, or garner.
to corral votes.
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to form (wagons) into a corral.
noun
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an enclosure for confining cattle or horses
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(formerly) a defensive enclosure formed by a ring of covered wagons
verb
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to drive into and confine in or as in a corral
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informal to capture
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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corralsimple
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corralssimple
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have corralledperfect
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has corralledperfect
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am corrallingprogressive
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are corrallingprogressive
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is corrallingprogressive
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have been corrallingperfect progressive
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has been corrallingperfect progressive
Past
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corralledsimple
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had corralledperfect
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was corrallingprogressive
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were corrallingprogressive
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had been corrallingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of corral
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 -al 1
Explanation
A corral is a pen for horses, cows, or other livestock. If your sheep get out of the corral, you'll have to take the dogs out to help you round them up again. The word corral comes either from the Spanish word corro, which means ring, or from the Old Portuguese word curral, meaning pen or enclosure. As a verb, corral means to gather up or collect. If you're in charge of the big library book sale, you'll have to corral lots of people into helping you. If you make a defensive circle with wagons or other vehicles, you have also corralled the wagons.
Vocabulary lists containing corral
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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.
Matt Freese, the Harvard-educated starting goalkeeper, had a brain cramp of epic proportions when he stepped outside of the box and failed to corral a ball.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2026
The news was that Mr. Warsh managed to corral a unanimous 12-0 vote in favor despite the previous public views of some governors that a rate increase was called for.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 17, 2026
The gated lot has a chicken coop, a horse corral, an organic garden and fruit trees.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2026
Speaking on Good Morning Ulster, she described how "in many cases" social media companies are "like the wild west and trying to corral it and control it can be incredibly difficult".
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
Off to the side, the Crunks and Marietta tried to corral all the children away from the flames.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
