| 释义 |
▪ 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.
c1400tr. 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. 1486Bk. St. Albans b vij, Take Rasne and Rubarbe and grynde it to gedre. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) H viii b, The phisicions with a lyttell Rubarb purge many humours of the body. 1540J. Heywood Four PP. C iii, I haue a boxe of rubarde here Whiche is as deynty as it is dere. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 411 The roote Rubarbe, which beeinge full of choler, purgeth choler. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. 13 All the Rubarbe, Gums, and other Aromaticall ware, are greatly sophisticated before they come to our handes. 1597Gerarde 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. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 55 What Rubarb, Cyme, or what Purgatiue drugge Would scowre these English hence? 1626Bacon Sylva §19 Rubarb hath manifestly..Parts that purge, and parts that bind the body. 1788Healde New Pharmacop. 200 Compounded Tincture of Rhubarb. 1789Trans. Soc. Arts I. 94 Such as is commonly sold in the shops under the name of Turkey or Russia Rhubarb. 1803Med. Jrnl. IX. 330 The following bolus.., consisting of five grains of calomel and fifteen of rhubarb. 1831Davies 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. 1870Yeats 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.
1526Skelton Magnyf. 2385 Nowe must I make you a lectuary softe,..With rubarbe of repentaunce in you for to rest. 1591Harington Orl. Fur. Pref. ⁋v b, In verse is both goodnesse and sweetnesse, Rubarb and Sugarcandie, the pleasaunt and the profitable. 1613Chapman Rev. Bussy D'Ambois iii. F j b, Since tis such Ruberb to you, Ile therefore search no more. 1641Treat. 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.
a1400Pistill of Susan 112 With Ruwe and Rubarbe, Ragget ariht. 1535Boorde Let. in Introd. Knowl. (1870) 56, I haue sentt to your mastershepp the seedes off reuberbe, the which come owtt off barbary. 1578Lyte Dodoens iii. x. 328 There be diuers sortes of Rha, or as it is nowe called Rheubarbe. 1597Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxix. 317 The Ponticke Rubarbe is lesser..than that of Barbarie. 1617[see rhapontic 1]. 1654Evelyn Diary 12 July, We went to the Physick Garden [Oxford]... There grew canes, olive-trees, rhubarb. 1765J. 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. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVI. 206/2 The Arabian ribes, or currant rhubarb of Mount Libanus. 1827Q. 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. 1846Lindley Veget. Kingd. 503 Oxalic acid is copiously formed in both Docks and Rhubarbs. 1866Treas. Bot. 979/1 Rhubarb,..Bucharian, Rheum undulatum. ―, Himalayan, Rheum Emodi and Webbianum. 1888Pall 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.
1650Denton 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. 1697Lister in Phil. Trans. XIX. 375 The Juice Extracted from the Roots of our English Rhubarb..is..a lean inflammable Gum. 1797Encycl. 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. 1827Turner Elem. Chem. 540 The acid principle..in the stem of the garden rhubarb. 1838Lindley Flora Med. 357 Rheum rhaponticum, hybridum, compactum, and hybrid varieties of them are the common garden Rhubarbs. 1860Wynter 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]. 1866Treas. 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. 1877Cassell'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.
1578Lyte Dodoens i. xxx. 42 The first great Thalietron or Bastard Rewbarbe. 1597Gerarde Herbal ii. cccccviii. 1068 Thalietrum, Thalictrum, and Ruta pratensis: in English bastard Rubarbe, or English Rubarbe. 1688Holme Armoury ii. vi. §xxv. 102 Butter Dock, or Rubarbe,..having a large crumpled leaf..with long stalks. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 28 The Bastard Rhubarb has almost worn out the Use of the Monks Rhubarb. 1727–38Chambers 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.
1934A. P. Herbert Holy Deadlock 194 The chorus excitedly rushed about and muttered ‘Rhubarb!’ 1952Radio 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. 1958Observer 7 Dec. 18/5 Actors, who shout ‘rhubarb—rhubarb—rhubarb’ to give the impression of a distant riot. 1960J. 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. 1972P. Dickinson Lizard in Cup xi. 174 The conversation..was meaningless; they might just as well have been muttering ‘rhubarb, rhubarb’. 1976Gramophone 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.
1943Time 22 Mar. 51/1 When a fighter pilot flies low over France, strafing whatever he finds—trains, troops, airdromes—he is ‘on a rhubarb’. 1945C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake (ed. 2) 51 Rhubarb.., a ground-strafing, go-for-anything-you-see worthwhile sortie. 1956J. 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.
1943N.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. 1947Time 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’. 1949Richmond (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. 1950Sun (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. 1959Washington 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. 1973Times 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. 1975F. 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. 1976National 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.
1963Radio 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. 1976Telegraph (Brisbane) 6 July 12/2 They gave me some rhubarb about violating the firework zone. 1977Times Lit. Suppl. 3 June 673/1 Peking opera..employed..a huge repertoire consisting almost entirely of rhubarb. 1979Times 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.
1836M. J. Berkeley Fungi 92 Agaricus flammans,..*rhubarb-Agaric.
1797M. Underwood Dis. Childhood I. 272 Sydenham's *rhubarb-beer.
1768Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 147 Your perpetual *rhubarb-chewers of vanity get a canine appetite.
1958*Rhubarb crumble [see crumble n. 2 b]. 1976Cumberland & 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].
1676Wiseman Surg. Treat. iv. v. 320, I..purged him with *Rhubarb-drink.
1855E. Acton Mod. Cookery (rev. ed.) xix. 383 (heading) *Rhubarb fritters.
1861Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 797 (heading) *Rhubarb jam. 1873Young Englishwoman Nov. 571/1 A receipt for making rhubarb jam. The rhubarb must..be well boiled with..preserving sugar and..bitter almonds. 1977K. O'Hara Ghost of T. Penry viii. 67 Harriet ate a lot of bread-and-butter with the rhubarb jam.
c1863T. 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. 1971Guardian 15 Feb. 6/5 His father-in-law drinks rhubarb juice by the glassful.
1855J. F. W. Johnston Chem. Common Life II. Index, Tobacco adulterated with *rhubarb leaves. 1866Treas. Bot. s.v. Rheum, In Queen Elizabeth's time Rhubarb-leaves were used as a potherb.
1958D. Wallace Forty Years On v. 63 There was an uproar. From the general *rhubarb noise the Dean could be heard. 1977Gramophone Aug. 340/1 There is almost no theatrical production, sound-effects or ‘rhubarb’ noises.
1855Hyde Clarke Dict. s.v., *Rhubarb-pie.
1787Phil. Trans. Index to Vols. I–LXX. 412 An account of the rheum palmatum, or *rhubarb plant, raised at Edinburgh.
1784J. Woodforde Diary 9 Mar. (1926) II. 121 Mr. Thorne left..a *Rhubarb Powder to take to Morrow. 1866Tanner Index of Diseases 235 Compound rhubarb powder.
1861Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 672 (heading) Boiled *rhubarb pudding. 1946Farmhouse Fare (Farmers Weekly) 135 Rhubarb pudding..flour..dates..syrup..milk..cocoa..margarine..rhubarb... Bake in hot oven.
1771Encycl. Brit. II. 559/1 If the horse recovers, give two or three mild *rhubarb purges.
1802Hooper Med. Dict. s.v. Rhabarbarum, Two sorts of *rhubarb roots are usually imported.., viz. the Chinese, and the Tartary rhubarb. 1866Treas. Bot. s.v. Rumex, Some [of the species] have been used as a substitute for Rhubarb-root.
1793J. Woodforde Diary 11 May (1929) IV. 28 We had for Dinner to day, hashed Calfs Head..& a *Rhubarb Tart. 1804Farley Lond. Art Cook. (ed. 10) 244 Rhubarb Tarts. Take the stalks of the rhubarb that grows in the garden [etc.].
1788Healde New Pharmacop. Index 337 *Rhubarb-Wine. 1835Brit. 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.
a1586Sidney 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? 1594Nashe 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.
1802Colman Poor Gent. i. ii, A rhubarb-coloured lapelle. 1848Thackeray Night's Pleasure Wks. 1898 VI. 569 Bob..was dressed in a rhubarb-coloured body-coat. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xiv. iii. (1872) V. 185 Ill-built Neapolitan, complexion rhubarb. 1887W. 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.
1958Spectator 11 July 47/1 ‘Hear, hear,’ they rhubarb-rhubarbed. 1965Observer 20 June 25/5 The barons, mildly rhubarbing in some awkwardly symmetrical pieces of stage grouping, rightly suspect the King of double-dealing. 1966I. Jefferies House-Surgeon iv. 79 We rhubarbed till he had gone. 1967D. 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. 1976Daily 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.
1953A. 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’. 1965New Statesman 20 Aug. 266/2 A floodlit market place at night with hucksters arriving to tempt the rhubarbers. 1970Times 27 Feb. 13/5 The few attempts at pageantry generally come to grief against painted backdrops, watched by a handful of rhubarbing commoners. 1978Daily 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. |