English English Dictionary

A pen for animals; esp., an inclosure made with wagons, by emigrants in the vicinity of hostile Indians, as a place of security for horses, cattle, etc.

To surround and inclose; to coop up; to put into an inclosed space; -- primarily used with reference to securing horses and cattle in an inclosure of wagons while traversing the plains, but in the Southwestern United States now colloquially applied to the capturing, securing, or penning of anything.