coral and corral - the difference

by Craig Shrives
The Quick Answer
Coral is a hard stony substance secreted by certain marine polyps.

A corral is an enclosure for livestock. As a verb, to corral is to round up or to put livestock in a corral.
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coral or corral?

Coral and Corral

The words coral and corral look and sound similar, but their meanings are very different. With the stress on the first syllable, coral rhymes with laurel (as in laurel wreath).  With the stress on the second syllable, corral rhymes with morale (as in the soldiers' morale.)

Coral

Coral is a noun. It refers to the colourful rocklike reefs found on sea beds. A decent dictionary will define coral as something like: "A hard stony substance secreted by certain marine polyps as an external skeleton, typically forming large reefs in warm seas."


a coral reef  

Corral

As a noun, corral refers to an enclosure for livestock. As a verb, it means to round up or to put livestock in a corral.


a corral
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