Definition

1. Noun:
   • A plant with long, thick, sour-tasting leafstalks: A perennial plant (Rheum rhabarbarum) characterized by large leaves and long, fleshy, acidic stalks. The stalks are edible when cooked, often sweetened, while the leaves are toxic.
   • The edible stalk of this plant: The pink or reddish leafstalk itself, used as a food, typically in pies, jams, or compotes after being cooked with sugar.
   • A heated dispute or argument (informal, chiefly North American): A loud, confused argument or quarrel, often involving many people.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Plant/Food):
  • We grow rhubarb in our garden every spring.
  • For dessert, she made a delicious strawberry and rhubarb pie.
• Noun (Argument):
  • The controversial call by the umpire started a real rhubarb among the fans.

Advanced Usage

• "rhubarb, rhubarb": In theater or film, background conversation noise made by a group of actors repeating the word "rhubarb" to simulate the sound of a murmuring crowd.
  • The extras were told to murmur "rhubarb, rhubarb" to create the atmosphere of a busy marketplace.

Variants and Related Words

• Rhubarb pie (n): A pie with a filling made primarily from rhubarb stalks.
• Rhubarb compote (n): A dessert of stewed rhubarb.

Synonyms

• For the plant/food: pieplant (informal).
• For the argument: quarrel, dispute, altercation, fracas, brouhaha.

Related Idioms

• No idioms are directly and exclusively formed with the word "rhubarb." The informal meaning ("argument") is itself used in an idiomatic way, especially in sports contexts.

Noun

1. plants having long green or reddish acidic leafstalks growing in basal clumps; stems (and only the stems) are edible when cooked; leaves are poisonous
2. long pinkish sour leafstalks usually eaten cooked and sweetened