ˈrüˌbärb, -ˌbȧb noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English rubarbe, from Middle French rubarbe, reubarbe, probably from Medieval Latin reubarbum, alteration of reubarbarum, probably alteration of rha barbarum barbarian rhubarb, from Late Latin rha rhubarb (from Greek rha, rhēon, perhaps from Rha Volga river) + Latin barbarum, neuter of barbarus barbarous, barbarian — more at barbarous
1. : a plant of the genus Rheum (as R. rhaponticum, R. officinale, or R. palmatum ) having large leaves with thick succulent petioles that are often eaten as a sauce, in pies, or in preserves
2. : the dried rhizome and roots of any of several herbs of the genus Rheum (as R. officinale and R. palmatum ) grown in China and Tibet and used as a purgative and stomachic bitter
3. : citrine 1
4. : a heated dispute or controversy : row
election was no hotter than the rhubarb which followed it — News of Orange County (Hillsboro, North Carolina)
specifically : a dispute on the field during a baseball game
beanball throwing, deliberately manufactured rhubarbs and umpire baiting — John Durant
5. chiefly dialect : an aerial strafing mission against targets of opportunity
when a fighter pilot flies low over France, strafing whatever he finds — trains, troops, airdromes — he is on a rhubarb — Time
6. slang : an out-of-the-way sparsely populated countrified area
the slick chick from the deep rhubarb — W.M.Swann