Rhubarb Definition
ro͝obärb
noun
Any of a genus (Rheum) of perennial, large-leaved plants of the buckwheat family; esp., the domestic pieplant (R. rhaponticum), having large, cordate leaf blades borne on long, thick stalks: the stalks are cooked into a sauce or baked in pies, but the blades are poisonous.
Webster's New World
The roots and rhizomes of various Asian rhubarbs, used as a cathartic.
Webster's New World
A heated discussion or argument.
Webster's New World
A word repeated softly to emulate background conversation. (see rhubarb rhubarb).
Wiktionary
Other Word Forms of Rhubarb
Noun
Singular:
rhubarb
Plural:
rhubarbsOrigin of Rhubarb
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Middle English rubarbe from Old French from Late Latin reubarbarum probably alteration (influenced by Greek rhēon) of rhabarbarum rha rhubarb (from Greek rhā) (perhaps from Rhā , the Volga River) Latin barbarum neuter of barbarus barbarian, foreign barbarous
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From Middle English rubarbe, from Old French, from Late Latin reubarbarum, from Latin Rha (“River Volga") (in the region from which the plant came to the Mediterraneum, cognate with New Latin Rheum) + barbarum (“barbarian")
From Wiktionary
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