rubarb

Noun (1)

rhubarb (countable and uncountable, plural rhubarb or rhubarbs)

1. Any plant of the genus Rheum, especially Rheum rhabarbarum, having large leaves and long green or reddish acidic leafstalks that are edible, in particular when cooked (although the leaves are mildly poisonous).
   • If every the cultivation of Rhubarb in this kingdom becomes ſo extenſive as to ſuperſede the neceſſity of its importation; to the Society for the promotion of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, will the community be indebted for an advantage, the magnitude and importance of which cannot be too...1798, Thomas Jones, “The Gold Medal, or Thirty Guineas, at the option of the Candidate, being the Premium offered for cultivating the True Rhubarb, was this Session adjudged to Mr. Thomas Jones, of...
2. (attributive, often) The leafstalks of common rhubarb or garden rhubarb (usually known as Rheum × hybridum), which are long, fleshy, often pale red, and with a tart taste, used as a food ingredient; they are frequently stewed with sugar and made into jam or used in crumbles, pies, etc.
   • Rhubarb Tarts. Take the ſtalks off the rhubarb that grows in the garden, peel the ſkin off, and cut them the ſize of a gooſeberry, put them into china or earthen-ware patty-pans, with ſugar over them, and put on a paſte either puff or tart, ice them, and bake them the ſame as green gooſeberries...1788, Richard Briggs, “Pies. [Tarts, Tartlets, and Puffs.]”, in The English Art of Cookery, According to the Present Practice; being a Complete Guide to All Housekeepers, on a Plan Entirely New...

   Synonyms:

   tusky

3. The dried rhizome and roots of Rheum palmatum (Chinese rhubarb) or Rheum officinale (Tibetan rhubarb), from China, used as a laxative and purgative.
   • The running of the reines or gonorrhœa, which is an exceſſive and involuntary profuſion of ſperm, cauſed, by its proper vice, and that of the ſpermatick parts; it's cured, […] if the ſperm be hot & ſharp, by phlebotomy, rhubarb, myrobalans, ſuccory, the foure greater cold ſeeds, anointing the ſpine...1661, Robert Lovell, “Anthropologia, &c. Of Man. &c.”, in ΠΑΝΖΩΟΡΥΚΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ [PANZŌORYKTOLOGIA]. Sive Panzoologicomineralogia. Or A Compleat History of Animals and Minerals, Containing the Summe of All...
4. (UK, historical) A Royal Air Force World War II code name for operations by aircraft (fighters and fighter-bombers) involving low-level flight to seek opportunistic targets.
   • On 13 December 1942, Squadron Leader [Brian] Lane made his first flight from Ludham, a local familiarisation flight. That afternoon, he led a section of Spitfires low over the North Sea on a ‘Rhubarb’, a low-level sweep over the Dutch coast, looking for targets of opportunity.2009, Dilip Sarkar, “Foreword”, in Brian Lane, edited by Dilip Sarkar, Spitfire!: The Experiences of a Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, →ISBN, page 11
5. (Saskatchewan, Ottawa Valley) A ditch alongside a road or highway.
   • Driving home yesterday, I almost hit the rhubarb.

Noun (2)

rhubarb (countable and uncountable, plural rhubarbs)

1. (uncountable) General background noise caused by several simultaneous indecipherable conversations, which is created in films, stage plays, etc., by actors repeating the word rhubarb; hence, such noise in other settings.
   • It [the film The Picnic] wasn't actually a silent film; there were sound effects, but the dialogue was a rhubarb-ish series of grunts and mutters.2001, Ronnie Corbett, High Hopes: My Autobiography, London: Ebury Press, published 2016, →ISBN, page 253

See all 13 meanings of rhubarb