oxbows
U-shaped stream bends
Oxbows are U-shaped bends in a river, or the curved pieces of wood that fit under and around the neck of an ox, forming part of a yoke.
The river sense comes from the shape resemblance—when a meandering river cuts off one of these loops, the isolated body of water becomes an oxbow lake.
The word appears in place names and describes any similar curved formation.
To travel without direction
- curveSmooth, angleless line
- loopCurve closing on itself
- horseshoeCurved metal hoof protector
- cutoffPoint of termination
channel · floodplain · sediment · deposition · erosion · riparian · alluvium · fluvial
Free from agitation
- tranquilityUndisturbed peacefulness
- stillnessComplete lack of motion
- quietudeState of calm stillness
- peaceFreedom from disturbance
placidity · repose · solitude · reflection · idyll · backwater · refuge · meditation
meander
To travel without direction
cutoff · channel · floodplain · sediment · deposition · erosion · riparian · alluvium · fluvial · watercourse
calm
Free from agitation
- tranquilityUndisturbed peacefulness
- stillnessComplete lack of motion
- quietudeState of calm stillness
peace · placidity · repose · solitude · reflection · idyll · backwater · refuge · meditation · harmony
collar
Neck encirclement
cattle · team · farmer · tillage · agriculture · furrow · cart · wooden · curved · paired
- hydrologyrivers, streamflow, aquifers, aquifer, lakes
- Missouri RiverMissouri River, Bismarck, Pierre, Omaha, Kansas City
- riversMississippi, Amazon, river, rivers, Nile
- river featuresriverbed, riverbank, current, tributary, flow
- riverbedriver bottom, stream bed, creek bed, substrate, bedrock
- oxbow lakeSevered meander's pooled remains