Word Study
HYPHEN
WORDNET DICTIONARY
CIDE DICTIONARY
OXFORD DICTIONARY
THESAURUS
ROGET THESAURUS
rhubarb
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun rhubarb has 2 senses
- rhubarb(n = noun.food) pieplant - long pinkish sour leafstalks usually eaten cooked and sweetened; Array is a kind of veg, vegetable, veggie
- rhubarb(n = noun.plant) rhubarb plant - plants having long green or reddish acidic leafstalks growing in basal clumps; stems (and only the stems) are edible when cooked; leaves are poisonous; Array is a kind of herb, herbaceous plant
is a member of genus rheum, rheum
has particulars: himalayan rhubarb, indian rhubarb, red-veined pie plant, rheum australe, rheum emodi, garden rhubarb, pie plant, rheum cultorum, rheum rhabarbarum, rheum rhaponticum, chinese rhubarb, rheum palmatum
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 orderPolygonaceæ . [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 alsopieplant . [1913 Webster] - The root of several species of
Rheum , used much as a cathartic medicine. [1913 Webster]
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.
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, wranglingROGET 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.
For further exploring for "rhubarb" in Webster Dictionary Online
