An oxbow is a bend in a meandering river that almost doubles back on itself and leaves only a narrow neck of land between parts of the channel.

An oxbow lake is a small horseshoe-shaped lake. It represents the position of a former oxbow after the narrow neck has been cut right through.

An oxbow on the River Forth at Stirling, Scotland.

A diagram showing how an oxbow lake forms

Because an oxbow lake is an abandoned oxbow, oxbows are only found on river floodplains.