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# rhubarb

noun (rhubarb — uncountable as food; a rhubarb plant, rhubarbs); interjection (rhubarb rhubarb — UK, theatre)

«rhubarb» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A garden plant with long thick pink or red stalks that are cooked with sugar and eaten as a sweet food, as in rhubarb crumble. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#m1)
2. (UK, informal) Nonsense or silly talk. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#m2)
3. (theatre, UK) The word actors mutter, "rhubarb, rhubarb", to sound like a crowd talking in the background. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#m3)
4. (US, old slang) A noisy argument or fight, especially in baseball. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#m4)

### In the lessons

In cooking and gardening lessons rhubarb is a classic British and Irish pudding plant (rhubarb crumble, rhubarb and custard). In science and safety lessons it is a warning: the stalks are eaten but the big leaves are poisonous. In drama lessons extras say "rhubarb rhubarb" to make crowd noise.

### Examples

- Grandad grows rhubarb in his garden. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#x1)
- We had rhubarb crumble with custard for pudding. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#x2)
- Rhubarb is very sour, so you cook it with sugar. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#x3)
- Never eat rhubarb leaves; they are poisonous. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#x4)
- In the school play, the crowd muttered "rhubarb, rhubarb". [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#x5)
- "That's a load of rhubarb!" said Nan, meaning nonsense. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#x6)
- Rhubarb and custard sweets are pink and yellow. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#x7)
- She believed to her last day in old-fashioned remedies like rhubarb leaf, and made sounds of contempt over all this new-fangled talk about germs, and so on. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/#x8)

### Note

Pronounced ROO-barb; the "h" is silent. As food it is uncountable (some rhubarb). Rhubarb is a vegetable, though it is cooked like a fruit. Safety: only the stalks are eaten; the leaves contain poison (oxalic acid).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «rhubarb» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rhubarb/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«rhubarb» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/rhubarb.html) on Mova free.