Oxbow

noun (countable)

/ˈɒksbəʊ/

A crescent-shaped lake formed when a pronounced meander loop of a river is cut off from the main channel by the breaching of the narrow neck between two bends during flood conditions, leaving the isolated curved segment as a standing water body. Also called a cut-off lake or meander lake, oxbows are common on the floodplains of mature rivers. In India, the Ganga–Brahmaputra delta and the Terai zone have numerous oxbow lakes (locally called chaurs in Bihar and beels in Assam), which are ecologically important wetlands.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The Assam floodplain's beels, many of them oxbow lakes left by the shifting Brahmaputra, are important wetland habitats.

Synonyms

cut-off lakemeander lakebillabong (Australian English)horseshoe lakeabandoned meander

Antonyms

active meandermain channelthalwegconfluence

🌱 Word Family

oxbow (noun), oxbow lake (compound noun), cut-off lake (synonym compound), meander scar (related compound)

🔡 Root

English ox + bow (arc); from the U-shaped wooden collar fitted around an ox's neck

📜 Etymology

The term refers to the U-shaped wooden frame that fits under an ox's neck as part of a yoke. The shape of this yoke resembles the curved form of an abandoned meander.

🧠 Memory Hook

OXBOW = shaped like the BOW (yoke) placed around an OX's neck, a perfect U-curve. When a river cuts across the neck of a meander, the U-shaped bend is abandoned and becomes a still lake shaped exactly like that ox-yoke.

🌍 Geography 📖 Seen in: Plate Tectonics and Volcanism…

Relevant across:GS1 · History, Geography & Society

Tip: press Alt+S to hear pronunciation