rhubarbern.
/ˈruːbɑːbə/, U.S. /ˈruˌbɑrbər/ 1. A person who grows rhubarb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivation of fruit > [noun] > one who > specific fruit
melonist1667
orangist1693
prune rancher1908
rhubarber1917
1917 Munsey's Mag. Aug. 522/1 The barber is now a rhubarber, they say; The scholar drops Poe for potatoes to-day.
1956 Rotarian Sept. 45/2 No back seat for rhubarbers... This year rhubarb growers were not to be outdone.
1998 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 8 Aug. 48 It would have opened up a new market for bigger pie dishes to be exploited by the redundant rhubarbers.
2. slang (originally Theatre). Originally: an actor who repeats the word ‘rhubarb’ so as to represent an indistinct conversation or the noise of a crowd. Now also (more generally): a person who mumbles or speaks indistinctly. Cf. rhubarb v.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > unintelligible language, gibberish > [noun] > user of
rhubarber1953
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > actor > [noun] > actor by manner of performance
tear-mouth1616
tear-throat1620
spouter1750
stick1801
gagger1871
facialist1877
fake1880
hamfatter1880
ham1882
mugger1892
ham-bone1893
upstager1933
rhubarber1953
1953 A. McQueen Let. 31 Aug. in E. Partridge Dict. Slang (1961) II. 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.
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.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1917