oxbow lake

noun

A crescent-shaped lake formed near a flat-valleyed river when one of its meanders becomes pinched off and isolated.

“Near-synonym: billabong (Australia)”

Similar
billabong
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounoxbow lake (plural oxbow lakes)

plural oxbow lakes

  1. A crescent-shaped lake formed near a flat-valleyed river when one of its meanders becomes pinched off and isolated.

    Near-synonym: billabong (Australia)

    1 more example

    Humans called this an oxbow lake—one that had originally been part of the river.

    1988, Octavia E. Butler, “Part II, Chapter 1”, in Adulthood Rites, page 69

    Synonyms: billabong

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA crescent-shaped lake formed near a flat-valleyed river when one of its meanders becomes pinched off and isolated.

Similar
billabong

Translations

Catalan braç mort
  • braç mortcrescent-shaped lake
Chinese Mandarin 牛軛湖 /牛轭湖
  • 牛軛湖 /牛轭湖 (niú'èhú)crescent-shaped lake
Czech mrtvé rameno
  • mrtvé ramenocrescent-shaped lake
Dutch hoefijzermeer
  • hoefijzermeercrescent-shaped lake
Esperanto meandra lago
  • meandra lagocrescent-shaped lake
Finnish juolua, makkarajärvi
  • juoluacrescent-shaped lake
  • makkarajärvicrescent-shaped lake
French bras mort
  • bras mortcrescent-shaped lake
German Altarm, Altwasser
  • Altarmcrescent-shaped lake
  • Altwassercrescent-shaped lake
Icelandic bjúgvatn
  • bjúgvatncrescent-shaped lake
Italian lanca
  • lancacrescent-shaped lake
Japanese 三日月湖
  • 三日月湖 (mikazukiko)crescent-shaped lake
Korean 우각호
  • 우각호 (ugakho)crescent-shaped lake
Latvian vecupe
  • vecupecrescent-shaped lake
Lithuanian sénvagė
  • sénvagėcrescent-shaped lake
Norwegian Bokmål kroksjø, meandersjø
  • kroksjøcrescent-shaped lake
  • meandersjøcrescent-shaped lake
Polish starorzecze, jezioro przyrzeczne
  • starorzeczecrescent-shaped lake
  • jezioro przyrzecznecrescent-shaped lake
Portuguese braço morto
  • braço mortocrescent-shaped lake
Romanian belciug
  • belciugcrescent-shaped lake
Russian старица
  • старица (starica)crescent-shaped lake
Spanish brazo muerto, lago en herradura
  • brazo muertocrescent-shaped lake
  • lago en herraduracrescent-shaped lake
Swedish korvsjö
  • korvsjöcrescent-shaped lake
Welsh ystumllyn
  • ystumllyncrescent-shaped lake
Cite this entry
APA

oxbow lake. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oxbow%20lake

MLA

“oxbow lake.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oxbow%20lake. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oxbow lake,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oxbow%20lake.

Source: oxbow lake on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.