oxbow

Curved yoke piece

An oxbow is a U-shaped bend in a river, or the curved lake left behind when the river cuts through and abandons such a bend: The Mississippi is full of oxbows.

The term comes from the U-shaped wooden collar fitted around an ox's neck to attach it to a yoke.

Oxbow also describes anything with that distinctive curved shape.

landform

meander

To travel without direction

riverbendCurve in watercourse
floodplainFlood-prone riverside lowland
cutoffPoint of termination

backwater · slough · billabong · bayou · wetland · dead arm · resaca · sediment · alluvium · siltation

curve

bend

Curve or flex

arcCurved line segment
horseshoeCurved metal hoof protector
crescentCurved sickle-like arc

loop · elbow · hook · curvature · sweep · U-shape · sinuous · winding · serpentine · curved

geomorphology

fluvial

Relating to rivers

channel migrationRiver relocating its course
avulsionForcible tissue separation
meandering streamWatercourse with many bends

anabranch · streamflow · hydrology · entrenchment · geomorphology · sedimentation · channel · watercourse · streambed · delta

yoke

harness

Straps controlling an animal

collarNeck encirclement
woodenMade from timber
cattleDomesticated bovines kept commercially

draft animal · plow · farming · traditional · pair · team · agricultural · traction

oxbow

meander

bend

fluvial

harness

oxbow

Opposites

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