OXBOW is a valid Scrabble word — 17 points
Yes. OXBOW is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 17 points in Scrabble and 18 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept OXBOW?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Valid |
Word power: 43 / 100
Our own measure of how useful OXBOW is to know. It scores 17 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 4.2% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for OXBOW
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
oxbowsChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How OXBOW scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in OXBOW, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| o | 2 | 8 |
| x | 1 | 1 |
| b | 1 | 2 |
| w | 1 | 2 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 672,210.
What does OXBOW mean in Scrabble?
noun
A U-shaped bend in a river, or the U-shaped part of a wooden yoke that fits around an ox's neck.
An oxbow forms where a river curves back sharply on itself, and when the river later cuts a shorter path the abandoned loop can remain as a crescent-shaped oxbow lake. The same word also names the curved wooden piece of a yoke that circles beneath an ox's throat.
How OXBOW is used
Common in geography when describing river bends and oxbow lakes; the yoke sense is more specialised and historical.
- The river formed a wide oxbow before straightening its course.
- Years later the oxbow was cut off and became a still lake.
- Farmers fitted the oxbow beneath the animal's neck before ploughing.
- Geography students mapped the oxbow lake beside the old channel.
- The oxbow curved almost back on itself near the bridge.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of OXBOW and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with OXBOW
1 longer words begin with OXBOW.
Shorter words from the letters in OXBOW
Common questions about OXBOW
- Is OXBOW valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts OXBOW, where it scores 18 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is OXBOW worth?
- OXBOW is worth 17 points in Scrabble and 18 points in Words with Friends.
- What does OXBOW mean?
- A U-shaped bend in a river, or the U-shaped part of a wooden yoke that fits around an ox's neck.
- What letters can be added to OXBOW?
- OXBOW takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of OXBOW:
Open OXBOW in the Word Finder