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recalar

to put in

verb reh-kah-LAHR Rare

Also means

to call at a port

Usage Note

Recalar in nautical Spanish means to sight land or call at a port at the end of a voyage — el barco recaló en Cádiz. In everyday Mexican and Río de la Plata Spanish it also means to end up or turn up somewhere unexpectedly: recaló en casa de sus amigos (he ended up at his friends' place). The nautical sense is dominant in standard dictionaries.

Examples

"El velero recaló en el puerto al anochecer."

Natural Translation

The sailboat called at the port at nightfall.

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