corralito

playpen

noun koh-rrahl-EE-toh Rare

Also means

financial freeze (Argentina)

Usage Note

Corralito is the diminutive of corral. In everyday use it means a baby's playpen. It became internationally known as a proper-noun term for Argentina's 2001 banking freeze, when withdrawals were severely restricted — this sense is now a common reference in Spanish economic journalism.

Examples

"El bebé jugó en el corralito toda la tarde."

Natural Translation

The baby played in the playpen all afternoon.

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