corral

[ kuh-ral ]

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.
   1. to seize; capture.
   2. to collect, gather, or garner:

      to corral votes.

3. to form (wagons) into a corral.

corral

/ kɒˈrɑːl /

noun

1. an enclosure for confining cattle or horses
2. (formerly) a defensive enclosure formed by a ring of covered wagons

verb

1. to drive into and confine in or as in a corral
2. informal.
   to capture

Word History and Origins

Origin of corral¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of corral¹

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

Example Sentences

Mark Langill, the Dodgers staff historian since 1994, also will corral enough artifacts to create displays throughout the stadium.

From Los Angeles Times

The punter couldn’t corral the loose ball and running back Hassan Haskins batted it out of the end zone to limit the damage to a safety.

From Los Angeles Times

El Zurdo — “The Lefty” — would be Fernando Valenzuela, the youngest of 12 children from this desert hamlet in northwest Mexico who would corral a blend of ineffable talent and gritty determination to electrify Southern California and the baseball universe.

From Los Angeles Times

Journalists like Tapper still act as if they can corral Trump loyalists into acknowledging even the most obvious truths.

From Salon

Firefighters there and to the east fighting the Line fire and south at the Airport fire in Orange and Riverside counties have been counting on a break from days of extreme heat and low humidity as an opportunity to start to corral the out-of-control blazes.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• paddock