kraal

noun

1. In Central and Southern Africa, a small rural community.

   “Onanis is the permanent residence of a kraal of very poor Hill-Damaras, who subsist chiefly upon the few wild roots which their sterile neighborhood produces.”

   “‘The paraffin box covered with newsprint, and the primus, and the bucket standing on the floor, and a photo of our kraal’s chief on the wall.’”

2. In Central and Southern Africa, a rural village of huts surrounded by a stockade.

   “A kraal was a homestead and usually included a simple fenced-in enclosure for animals, fields for growing crops, and one or more thatched huts.”

3. An enclosure for livestock.

   “The animal, which is now six years old, was born naturally from the mating of a female goat with a male sheep sharing the same kraal.”

verb

1. (transitive)To enclose (livestock) within a kraal or stockade.

   “[…] he knew that one of these beasts was in the habit of harassing the goat-kids, which, for better security, he had kraaled against the wall of the house.”