rhubarb--prophetes.ai

▪ I. rhubarb, n.
    (ˈruːbəb, -bɑːb)
    Forms: 4–7 rubarbe, 5–7 rewbarb(e, 6–7 r(h)eubarbe, rubarb, rheubarb (5 rembarbe, rwbarbe, rubarde, 5–6 reubard(e, 6 rubard, rebarbe, reuberbe, rhew-, ryo-, rui-, 7 ruberb, ruybarbe, rhebarb, 9 dial. rhubard), 7– rhubarb. See also rhabarb.
    [a. OF. reu-, reo-, rubarbe, mod.F. rhubarbe, = Pr. reubarba, Sp. ruibarbo, Pg. rui-, rheubarbo:—L. type *r(h)eubarbum, shortened f. med.L. r(h)eubarbarum, altered by association with rhēum (see rheum²) from rhabarbarum.]
    1. a. The medicinal rootstock (purgative and subsequently astringent) of one or more species of Rheum grown in China and Tibet and for a long period imported into Europe through Russia and the Levant, but since 1860 direct from China; usually (e.g. in pharmaceutical and domestic use) called Turkey rhubarb or Russian rhubarb, but now known commercially as East Indian rhubarb or Chinese rhubarb.

c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 70 And after of exrohand, þat ys reubard, foure peny weght, ffor þat..with⁓drawys þe fleume fro þe mouth of þe stomake. 1486 Bk. St. Albans b vij, Take Rasne and Rubarbe and grynde it to gedre. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) H viii b, The phisicions with a lyttell Rubarb purge many humours of the body. 1540 J. Heywood Four PP. C iii, I haue a boxe of rubarde here Whiche is as deynty as it is dere. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 411 The roote Rubarbe, which beeinge full of choler, purgeth choler. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. 13 All the Rubarbe, Gums, and other Aromaticall ware, are greatly sophisticated before they come to our handes. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxix. 317 The best Rubarbe is that which is brought from China fresh and newe... The second in goodnes is that which cometh from Barbarie. The last and woorst from Bosphorus and Pontus. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 55 What Rubarb, Cyme, or what Purgatiue drugge Would scowre these English hence? 1626 Bacon Sylva §19 Rubarb hath manifestly..Parts that purge, and parts that bind the body. 1788 Healde New Pharmacop. 200 Compounded Tincture of Rhubarb. 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts I. 94 Such as is commonly sold in the shops under the name of Turkey or Russia Rhubarb. 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 330 The following bolus.., consisting of five grains of calomel and fifteen of rhubarb. 1831 Davies Mat. Med. 366 The Russian rhubarb..is in pieces somewhat flattened,..with a hole in the middle... The Chinese rhubarb is in round pieces,..generally with small holes,..and covered over with a yellowish powder. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 243 The East Indian or Chinese rhubarb, which is shipped from Canton to Europe.

b. fig., as a type of bitterness or sourness.

1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2385 Nowe must I make you a lectuary softe,..With rubarbe of repentaunce in you for to rest. 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. Pref. ¶v b, In verse is both goodnesse and sweetnesse, Rubarb and Sugarcandie, the pleasaunt and the profitable. 1613 Chapman Rev. Bussy D'Ambois iii. F j b, Since tis such Ruberb to you, Ile therefore search no more. 1641 Treat. Affl. Faithful iii. in Contin. Foxe's A. & M. III, The conscience..ceaseth not to retain a scruple or dramme of Rubarb mingled herewith.

2. a. Any plant of the genus Rheum.
For various species see quots. † Pontic rhubarb or Pontish rhubarb = rhapontic 2.

a 1400 Pistill of Susan 112 With Ruwe and Rubarbe, Ragget ariht. 1535 Boorde Let. in Introd. Knowl. (1870) 56, I haue sentt to your mastershepp the seedes off reuberbe, the which come owtt off barbary. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. x. 328 There be diuers sortes of Rha, or as it is nowe called Rheubarbe. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxix. 317 The Ponticke Rubarbe is lesser..than that of Barbarie. 1617 [see rhapontic 1]. 1654 Evelyn Diary 12 July, We went to the Physick Garden [Oxford]... There grew canes, olive-trees, rhubarb. 1765 J. Hope in Phil. Trans. (1766) LV. 290, I received from Doctor Mounsey the seeds of the Rheum palmatum, which he assured me were the seeds of the true Rhubarb. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVI. 206/2 The Arabian ribes, or currant rhubarb of Mount Libanus. 1827 Q. Jrnl. Sci. XXIV. 168 The famous rhubarb, which has of late acquired so much celebrity under the name of Buck's rhubarb;..this sort is the genuine Rheum undulatum. 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 503 Oxalic acid is copiously formed in both Docks and Rhubarbs. 1866 Treas. Bot. 979/1 Rhubarb,..Bucharian, Rheum undulatum. ―, Himalayan, Rheum Emodi and Webbianum. 1888 Pall Mall G. 23 June 5/2 In most gardens the rhubarbs are considered only in their capacity as food suppliers, but at Kew they are allowed to assume their natural characters.

b. English rhubarb or French rhubarb: any of various species cultivated in England or France. common rhubarb or garden rhubarb (in ordinary usage, without qualifying word): any of the species having heart-shaped, smooth, deep-green leaves growing on thick fleshy stalks, which are much used in the spring as a substitute for fruit; also, the fleshy leaf-stalks of these used as food.

1650 Denton Let. to R. Verney 21 Mar. (MS.), I have..sent you 30 small roots of rhubarb. The leaves will be as bige as the burdock..but of a finer green. 1697 Lister in Phil. Trans. XIX. 375 The Juice Extracted from the Roots of our English Rhubarb..is..a lean inflammable Gum. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVI. 206/2 Rheum..1. The rhaponticum, or common rhubarb,..grows in Thrace and Scythia, but has been long in the English gardens. 1827 Turner Elem. Chem. 540 The acid principle..in the stem of the garden rhubarb. 1838 Lindley Flora Med. 357 Rheum rhaponticum, hybridum, compactum, and hybrid varieties of them are the common garden Rhubarbs. 1860 Wynter Curios. Civil. 236 Rhubarb is almost wholly furnished by the London market-gardeners. It was first introduced by Mr. Miatt forty years ago, who sent his two sons to the Borough Market with five bunches, of which they only sold three. 1860 [see rhapontic 4]. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v. Rheum, English Rhubarb..being principally grown near Banbury in Oxfordshire, and the species being R. Rhaponticum. Ibid. 979 Rhubarb,..French. Rheum Rhaponticum undulatum and compactum. 1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 730/1 Early forced rhubarb, or champagne rhubarb, as it is called, is especially prized for its beautiful colour.

3. With qualifying word, applied to allied or similar plants: bastard, false rhubarb, Thalictrum flavum. meadow rhubarb (see meadow n. 4 c). white rhubarb = mechoacan 1. See also monk's rhubarb.

1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xxx. 42 The first great Thalietron or Bastard Rewbarbe. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccccviii. 1068 Thalietrum, Thalictrum, and Ruta pratensis: in English bastard Rubarbe, or English Rubarbe. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. vi. §xxv. 102 Butter Dock, or Rubarbe,..having a large crumpled leaf..with long stalks. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 28 The Bastard Rhubarb has almost worn out the Use of the Monks Rhubarb. 1727–38 Chambers Cycl., Mechoacan, Mechoacanna, called also white jalap, white rhubarb, and American scammony.

4. a. The word ‘rhubarb’ as repeated by actors to give the impression of murmurous hubbub or conversation. Hence allusively.

1934 A. P. Herbert Holy Deadlock 194 The chorus excitedly rushed about and muttered ‘Rhubarb!’ 1952 Radio Times 17 Oct. 11/3 The unemployed actors had a wonderful time. We'd huddle together in a corner and repeat ‘Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb’ or ‘My fiddle, my fiddle, my fiddle’—and it sounded like a big scene from some mammoth production. 1958 Observer 7 Dec. 18/5 Actors, who shout ‘rhubarb—rhubarb—rhubarb’ to give the impression of a distant riot. 1960 J. Betjeman Summoned by Bells ix. 105 And in the next-door room is heard the tramp And ‘rhubarb, rhubarb’ as the crowd rehearse A one-act play in verse. 1972 P. Dickinson Lizard in Cup xi. 174 The conversation..was meaningless; they might just as well have been muttering ‘rhubarb, rhubarb’. 1976 Gramophone June 71/2, I wondered if the chorus would have made a better effect had the words been less clearly articulated (like actors in a crowd scene muttering ‘rhubarb’).

b. Mil. slang. A low-level flight for opportune strafing.

1943 Time 22 Mar. 51/1 When a fighter pilot flies low over France, strafing whatever he finds—trains, troops, airdromes—he is ‘on a rhubarb’. 1945 C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake (ed. 2) 51 Rhubarb.., a ground-strafing, go-for-anything-you-see worthwhile sortie. 1956 J. E. Johnson Wing Leader vi. 79 We began to carry out low-level flights over France. These operations were known by the code name Rhubarb. Ibid. 80 Usually our Rhubarb efforts yielded little more than a staff car. Ibid., I loathed those Rhubarbs with a deep, dark hatred.

c. U.S. slang. A heated dispute, a row; spec. a disturbance or argument on the field of play at a sporting (orig. Baseball) event.

1943 N.Y. Herald Tribune 13 July 22/3 Mr ‘Red’ Barber,..who has been announcing the games of the Brooklyn Dodgers, has used the term ‘rhubarb’ to describe an argument, or a mix-up, on the field of play. 1947 Time 22 Sept. 70/1 Next inning, at the plate, there was a face-to-face exchange of hot words..—the kind of rough passage that fans appreciatively call a ‘rhubarb’. 1949 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 17 Jan. 3/2 The citizen waiting for a streetcar yesterday was of several minds about the ‘rhubarb’ between the Virginia Transit Company and its drivers. 1950 Sun (Baltimore) 20 June 21/2 Such talk is not publicized for obvious reasons. But this has reached type, and one of those so-called ‘rhubarbs’ is in the pot stewing away. 1959 Washington Post 11 Feb. c5/1 Among those who had bets on Dorothy's Best in Monday's false start rhubarb,..most were back to racing's cold war. 1973 Times 15 Aug. 7/3 ‘Rhubarbs’, the name used for noisy arguments that break out on the field, started when a Yankee batter, after missing a Perry special, yelled ‘spitter’ at him. 1975 F. Kennedy Alberta was my Beat xii. 147 It was at the Montreal Stampede that the big ‘rhubarb’ occurred, involving..Canada's top bucking horse rider. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 3 July 15/3 To be conned? Now that always starts a rhubarb, and in this week's hand it started when a defender fell for a pseudo end-play.

d. slang. Nonsense, worthless stuff.

1963 Radio Times 3 Oct. 17/1 Dig this Rhubarb..a new kind of television entertainment... Which (we hope) will prove that there is no shortage of writers for television so long as you are not particular about whether they are still alive or not. 1976 Telegraph (Brisbane) 6 July 12/2 They gave me some rhubarb about violating the firework zone. 1977 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 June 673/1 Peking opera..employed..a huge repertoire consisting almost entirely of rhubarb. 1979 Times 22 Feb. 5/7 We should look at the individual... Whether he or she went to the right school..that's rhubarb.

5. attrib. and Comb., as (senses 1–3) rhubarb-chewer, rhubarb crumble, rhubarb fritters, rhubarb jam, rhubarb juice, rhubarb leaf, rhubarb pie, rhubarb plant, rhubarb powder, rhubarb pudding, rhubarb purge, rhubarb root, rhubarb tart, rhubarb wine; (sense 4) rhubarb noise; rhubarb agaric, Agaricus flammans (formerly rheoides); † rhubarb-beer, † -drink [cf. G. rhabarbertrank], an infusion of rhubarb in beer or ale; rhubarb disease = crown rot s.v. crown n. 35.

1836 M. J. Berkeley Fungi 92 Agaricus flammans,..*rhubarb-Agaric.

1797 M. Underwood Dis. Childhood I. 272 Sydenham's *rhubarb-beer.

1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 147 Your perpetual *rhubarb-chewers of vanity get a canine appetite.

1958 *Rhubarb crumble [see crumble n. 2 b]. 1976 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald 1 Aug. 1/6 For their sweet course, pupils could make a choice from fresh fruit..hot mince pies and custard and rhubarb crumble and custard.

1924 *Rhubarb disease [see crown rot s.v. crown n. 35].

1676 Wiseman Surg. Treat. iv. v. 320, I..purged him with *Rhubarb-drink.

1855 E. Acton Mod. Cookery (rev. ed.) xix. 383 (heading) *Rhubarb fritters.

1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 797 (heading) *Rhubarb jam. 1873 Young Englishwoman Nov. 571/1 A receipt for making rhubarb jam. The rhubarb must..be well boiled with..preserving sugar and..bitter almonds. 1977 K. O'Hara Ghost of T. Penry viii. 67 Harriet ate a lot of bread-and-butter with the rhubarb jam.

c 1863 T. Taylor in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1969) II. 84, You will make it champagne?.. None of your home-brewed; I buy my *rhubarb-juice at the green⁓grocer's. 1971 Guardian 15 Feb. 6/5 His father-in-law drinks rhubarb juice by the glassful.

1855 J. F. W. Johnston Chem. Common Life II. Index, Tobacco adulterated with *rhubarb leaves. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v. Rheum, In Queen Elizabeth's time Rhubarb-leaves were used as a potherb.

1958 D. Wallace Forty Years On v. 63 There was an uproar. From the general *rhubarb noise the Dean could be heard. 1977 Gramophone Aug. 340/1 There is almost no theatrical production, sound-effects or ‘rhubarb’ noises.

1855 Hyde Clarke Dict. s.v., *Rhubarb-pie.

1787 Phil. Trans. Index to Vols. I–LXX. 412 An account of the rheum palmatum, or *rhubarb plant, raised at Edinburgh.

1784 J. Woodforde Diary 9 Mar. (1926) II. 121 Mr. Thorne left..a *Rhubarb Powder to take to Morrow. 1866 Tanner Index of Diseases 235 Compound rhubarb powder.

1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 672 (heading) Boiled *rhubarb pudding. 1946 Farmhouse Fare (Farmers Weekly) 135 Rhubarb pudding..flour..dates..syrup..milk..cocoa..margarine..rhubarb... Bake in hot oven.

1771 Encycl. Brit. II. 559/1 If the horse recovers, give two or three mild *rhubarb purges.

1802 Hooper Med. Dict. s.v. Rhabarbarum, Two sorts of *rhubarb roots are usually imported.., viz. the Chinese, and the Tartary rhubarb. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v. Rumex, Some [of the species] have been used as a substitute for Rhubarb-root.

1793 J. Woodforde Diary 11 May (1929) IV. 28 We had for Dinner to day, hashed Calfs Head..& a *Rhubarb Tart. 1804 Farley Lond. Art Cook. (ed. 10) 244 Rhubarb Tarts. Take the stalks of the rhubarb that grows in the garden [etc.].

1788 Healde New Pharmacop. Index 337 *Rhubarb-Wine. 1835 Brit. Cycl. Arts & Sci. II. 510/1 To prepare rhubarb wine, take of rhubarb, sliced, two ounces [etc.].

b. passing into adj.: † (a) fig., bitter, tart.

a 1586 Sidney Astr. & Stella Sonn. xiv. Wks. (Grosart) I. 23 Haue I not paine enough, my friend,..But with your rubarbe words ye must contend, To grieue me worse? 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. F 4 Too much gall dyd that wormwood of Gibeline wittes put in his inke, who ingraued that rubarbe Epitaph on this excellent poets tombstone.

(b) of the colour of medicinal rhubarb, yellowish-brown; also rhubarb-colour, rhubarb-coloured adjs.

1802 Colman Poor Gent. i. ii, A rhubarb-coloured lapelle. 1848 Thackeray Night's Pleasure Wks. 1898 VI. 569 Bob..was dressed in a rhubarb-coloured body-coat. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xiv. iii. (1872) V. 185 Ill-built Neapolitan, complexion rhubarb. 1887 W. Phillips Brit. Discomycetes 335 Dark colour, varying from rhubarb-brown to umber-brown and black. Ibid. 339 Hymenium rhubarb-colour.

▪ II. ˈrhubarb, v. slang (orig. Theatr.).
[f. the n.]
intr. Of an actor: to repeat ‘rhubarb’ (rhubarb n. 4 a); to mumble indistinctly in order to represent the noise of a crowd. Freq. transf. in gen. use. Also redupl. Occas. trans. with direct speech as obj.

1958 Spectator 11 July 47/1 ‘Hear, hear,’ they rhubarb-rhubarbed. 1965 Observer 20 June 25/5 The barons, mildly rhubarbing in some awkwardly symmetrical pieces of stage grouping, rightly suspect the King of double-dealing. 1966 I. Jefferies House-Surgeon iv. 79 We rhubarbed till he had gone. 1967 D. Skirrow I was following this Girl xxxv. 210, I listened hard and rhubarbed my way through, trying to make any sort of sense of what I was hearing. 1976 Daily Tel. 21 Sept. 11/2 Livia faced the Roman mob, all seven of them, rhubarbing at the Palace back door. ‘You wait,’ she cried imperiously, ‘until my husband gets home!’

So ˈrhubarber, an actor who repeats ‘rhubarb’; also transf.; ˈrhubarbing vbl. n. and ppl. a.

1953 A. McQueen Let. 31 Aug. in Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. (1961) 1247/2 When a few actors gathered backstage and represented ‘noise without’ made by a mob, they intoned the sonorous word ‘rhubarb’. The action was called ‘rhubarbing’, the actors ‘rhubarbers’. 1965 New Statesman 20 Aug. 266/2 A floodlit market place at night with hucksters arriving to tempt the rhubarbers. 1970 Times 27 Feb. 13/5 The few attempts at pageantry generally come to grief against painted backdrops, watched by a handful of rhubarbing commoners. 1978 Daily Tel. 10 May 36/6 Mr Jenkin showed himself to be a formidable rhubarber in his own right. He nodded and moved his lips with the utmost vigour.