oxbow

[oks-boh]

noun

a U-shaped piece of wood placed under and around the neck of an ox with its upper ends in the bar of the yoke.

Physical Geography, Geology.

a bow-shaped bend in a river, or the land embraced by it.
Also called oxbow lake.a bow-shaped lake formed in a former channel of a river.

Origin of oxbow

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at ox, bow²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for oxbow

Historical Examples of oxbow

Clement Lindsay had come to Oxbow Village with a single purpose.
The Guardian Angel
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
But far away in Oxbow Village other events were in preparation.
The Guardian Angel
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oxbow lakes are common, but gorges and waterfalls are absent.
Geology
William J. Miller
The drive is a pleasant one, affording a fine view of the Oxbow Rapids and islands and the noble river above.
The Falls of Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts
George W. Holley
It was built on the east bank of the river, a little above the curve which gave the name to Oxbow Village.
The Guardian Angel
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

British Dictionary definitions for oxbow

oxbow

noun

a U-shaped piece of wood fitted under and around the neck of a harnessed ox and attached to the yoke

Also called: oxbow lake, cutoff a small curved lake lying on the flood plain of a river and constituting the remnant of a former meander

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for oxbow

also ox-bow, mid-14c., "wooden collar for an ox," from ox + bow (n.1). Meaning "semicircular bend in a river" is from 1797, American English (New England); meaning "curved lake left after an oxbow meander has been cut off by a change in the river course" is from 1898. The reference is to similarity of shape.

oxbow in Science

oxbow

[ŏks′bō′]

A sharp, U-shaped bend in a river. The bend is so sharp that only a narrow neck of land is left between the two parts of the river.