rhubarb

noun

• 1the thick leaf stalks of a cultivated plant of the dock family, which are reddish or green and eaten as a fruit after cooking.

• 2the large-leaved Eurasian plant that produces rhubarb.

  • Rheum rhaponticum (or rhabarbarum), family Polygonaceae
• used in names of other plants of the sane genus as rhubarb, several of which are used medicinally, e.g., Chinese rhubarb.

• 3 informal, chiefly British the noise made by a group of actors to give the impression of indistinct background conversation or to represent the noise of a crowd, especially by the random repetition of the word “rhubarb” with different intonations.
• North American informal a heated dispute:rhubarbs often broke out among these less than professional players