oxbow

[ oks-boh ]

/ ˈɒksˌboʊ /

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.

Nearby words

oxalosuccinic acid, oxaluria, oxazepam, oxazine, oxblood, oxbow, oxbow chest, oxbow front, oxbow lake, oxbridge, oxcart

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

Oxbow lakes are common, but gorges and waterfalls are absent.
Geology|William J. Miller
During her stay at the great school, she made but one visit to Oxbow Village.
The Guardian Angel|Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
The smallest Bunker really had succeeded in getting everybody at Oxbow Bend very much stirred up.
Six Little Bunkers at Cowboy Jack's|Laura Lee Hope
The day before the race the small boys made a grand stand at the Oxbow for the spectators.
Harper's Young People, May 11, 1880|Various

Longfellow, I believe, is not yet at the Oxbow, else the winged horse would neigh at him.
Typee|Herman Melville

British Dictionary definitions for oxbow

oxbow

/ (ˈɒksˌbəʊ) /

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

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.

Science definitions for oxbow

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.