Billabong

In Australian English, a billabong ( BIL-ə-bong) is a small body of water, usually a permanent one created by a change in course or the flooding of a river. It is variously used to refer to oxbow lakes, dry creek beds that fill after heavy rainfall and channels of rivers that lead to dead-ends or backwaters. The term is likely borrowed from Wiradjuri, an Aboriginal Australian language of New South Wales.