rhubarb

• POS: Interjection, Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: rhu=barb

CIDE DICTIONARY

rhubarb, n. [F. rhubarbe, OF. rubarbe, rheubarbe, reubarbare, reobarbe, LL. rheubarbarum for rheum barbarum, Gr. (and ) rhubarb, from the river Rha (the Volga) on whose banks it grew. Originally, therefore, it was the barbarian plant from the Rha. Cf. Barbarous, Rhaponticine.].

•  The name of several large perennial herbs of the genus Rheum and order Polygonaceæ.  [1913 Webster]
•  The large and fleshy leafstalks of Rheum Rhaponticum and other species of the same genus. They are pleasantly acid, and are used in cookery. Called also pieplant.  [1913 Webster]
•  The root of several species of Rheum, used much as a cathartic medicine.  [1913 Webster]

Monk's rhubarb. (Bot.) See under Monk. -- Turkey rhubarb (Med.), the roots of Rheum Emodi.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

rhubarb, n.
1 a any of various plants of the genus Rheum, esp. R. rhaponticum, producing long fleshy dark-red leaf-stalks used cooked as food. b the leaf-stalks of this.
2 a a root of a Chinese and Tibetan plant of the genus Rheum. b a purgative made from this.
3 a colloq. a murmurous conversation or noise, esp. the repetition of the word 'rhubarb' by crowd actors. b sl. nonsense; worthless stuff.
4 US sl. a heated dispute.

Etymology

ME f. OF r(e)ubarbe, shortening of med.L r(h)eubarbarum, alt. (by assoc. with Gk rheon rhubarb) of rhabarbarum foreign 'rha', ult. f. Gk rha + barbaros foreign

THESAURUS

rhubarb

Bedlam let loose, Irish potato, Kraut, altercation, apologetics, apologia, apology, argument, argumentation, aubergine, barney, beans, bedlam, beef, bicker, bickering, blast, bobbery, brawl, brouhaha, cabbage, casuistry, charivari, chirm, clamor, clangor, clap, clatter, commotion, contention, controversy, defense, din, discord, disputation, dispute, donnybrook, drunken brawl, dustup, eggplant, falling-out, flap, flyting, fracas, free-for-all, greens, hassle, hell broke loose, howl, hubbub, hue and cry, hullabaloo, jangle, knock-down-and-drag-out, legumes, litigation, logomachy, loud noise, love apple, mad apple, noise, noise and shouting, outcry, pandemonium, paper war, passage of arms, pieplant, polemic, polemics, potato, potherbs, produce, racket, rattle, roar, row, ruckus, ruction, rumble, rumpus, run-in, scrap, set-to, shindy, shivaree, spud, tater, thunder, thunderclap, tintamarre, tomato, tumult, uproar, vegetables, verbal engagement, war of words, white potato, wrangling

ROGET THESAURUS

rhubarb

Disorder

N disorder, derangement, irregularity, anomaly, anarchy, anarchism, want of method, untidiness, disunion, discord, confusion, confusedness, mishmash, mix, disarray, jumble, huddle, litter, lumber, cahotage, farrago, mess, mash, muddle, muss, hash, hodgepodge, hotch-potch, hotch-pot, imbroglio, chaos, omnium gatherum, medley, mere mixture, fortuitous concourse of atoms, disjecta membra, rudis indigestaque moles, complexity, turmoil, ferment, to-do, trouble, pudder, pother, row, rumble, disturbance, hubbub, convulsion, tumult, uproar, revolution, riot, rumpus, stour, scramble, brawl, fracas, rhubarb, fight, free-for-all, row, ruction, rumpus, embroilment, melee, spill and pelt, rough and tumble, whirlwind, bear garden, Babel, Saturnalia, donnybrook, Donnybrook Fair, confusion worse confounded, most admired disorder, concordia discors, Bedlam, all hell broke loose, bull in a china shop, all the fat in the fire, diable a' quatre, Devil to pay, pretty kettle of fish, pretty piece of work, pretty piece of business, disorderly person, disorderly persons offence, misdemeanor, slattern, slut (libertine), disorderly, orderless, out of order, out of place, out of gear, irregular, desultory, anomalous, acephalous, deranged, aimless, disorganized, straggling, unmethodical, immethodical, unsymmetric, unsystematic, untidy, slovenly, dislocated, out of sorts, promiscuous, indiscriminate, chaotic, anarchical, unarranged &c (arrange), confused, deranged, topsy-turvy, shapeless, disjointed, out of joint, troublous, riotous, complex, irregularly, by fits, by fits and snatches, by fits and starts, pellmell, higgledy-piggledy, helter-skelter, harum-scarum, in a ferment, at sixes and sevens, at cross-purposes, upside down, the cart before the horse, hysteron proteron, chaos is come again, the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.