corral

1 of 2

noun

cor·​ral kə-ˈral 

-ˈrel

1

: a pen or enclosure for confining or capturing livestock

herded the cattle into the corral

2

: an enclosure made with wagons for defense of an encampment

corral

2 of 2

verb

corralled; corralling

transitive verb

1

: to enclose in a corral (see corral entry 1 sense 1)

corralled the horses

2

: to arrange (wagons) so as to form a corral (see corral entry 1 sense 2)

3

: collect, gather

corralling votes for the upcoming election

Synonyms

Noun

• cage
• coop
• pound

Verb

• house
• confine
• enclose
• surround
• pen
• encase
• cage

Examples of corral in a Sentence

Noun

the horses live in our corral, along with a cow

Verb

corralled everyone in the conference room for a speech by the CEO

corralled a scattering of stray pens and quickly stuffed them in the drawer to tidy the desk

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Then, there's Dumbell Ranch, which has a main house, a bunkhouse, a mobile home for employees, several historic barns, and corrals, and even a few working shops. —Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 26 Aug. 2025

Woodbury Thrives, a Woodbury Community Foundation nonprofit that champions healthy living, mental well-being and social connectedness, is offering ‘Bike to Woodbury Days,’ a free bike corral at Ojibway Park. —Talia McWright, Twin Cities, 22 Aug. 2025

Verb

One of today’s co-hosts, France, has been unable to pass its own budget, let alone corral a continent into boosting its defense spending. —Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2025

Then Moniak drove Palencia’s 1-1 slider into the right-field corner for the game-winner as Kyle Tucker tried to corral the baseball. —Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 31 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Spanish, from Vulgar Latin *currale enclosure for vehicles, from Latin currus cart, from currere to run — more at car

First Known Use

Noun

1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1847, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for corral

• canal
• chorale
• ghazal
• locale
• morale
• royale
• bal
• dal
• gal
• mal
• pal
• sal

Kids Definition

corral

1 of 2 noun

cor·​ral kə-ˈral 

1

: a pen for keeping or capturing livestock

2

: an enclosure made with wagons for defense of a camp

corral

2 of 2 verb

corralled; corralling

1

: to keep in or as if in a corral

2

: surround entry 1, capture

3

: to arrange wagons so as to form a corral