rhubarb
rhu·barb/ˈɹuˌbɑɹb/noun, adjective, verb
rhubarb is spelled R-H-U-B-A-R-B, 2 syllables: rhu·barb. The wrong spelling people search most is rubarb: about 710 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 13 of all searches for the word. Rhubarb is a noun meaning “Any plant of the genus Rheum, especially Rheum rhabarbarum, having large leaves and long green or reddish…”. The plural of rhubarb is rhubarbs.
How many letters and syllables are in rhubarb?
| Letters | 7: R-H-U-B-A-R-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: rhu·barb |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,017th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, rubarb, about 710 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell rhubarb?
Rhubarb is spelled R-H-U-B-A-R-B. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 13 of the searches for rhubarb in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is rhubarb?
Rhubarb appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rhubarb?
- UK /ˈɹuːbɑːb/
- US /ˈɹuˌbɑɹb/
- [ˈɹuːbaɹb]
Rhubarb has 2 syllables, split rhu·barb in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-rhubarb.ogg, En-au-rhubarb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of rhubarb
- rhubarbs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- rhubarbing participle, present
- rhubarbed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rhubarb mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any plant of the genus Rheum, especially Rheum rhabarbarum, having large leaves and long green or reddish acidic leafstalks that are edible, in particular when cooked (although the leaves are mildly poisonous).
- 2
The leafstalks of common rhubarb or garden rhubarb (usually known as Rheum × hybridum), which are long, fleshy, often pale red, and with a tart taste, used as a food ingredient; they are frequently stewed with sugar and made into jam or used in crumbles, pies, etc.
- 3
The dried rhizome and roots of Rheum palmatum (Chinese rhubarb) or Rheum officinale (Tibetan rhubarb), from China, used as a laxative and purgative.
- 4
UKA Royal Air Force World War II code name for operations by aircraft (fighters and fighter-bombers) involving low-level flight to seek opportunistic targets.
- 5
A ditch alongside a road or highway.
Driving home yesterday, I almost hit the rhubarb.
- 6
General background noise caused by several simultaneous indecipherable conversations, which is created in films, stage plays, etc., by actors repeating the word rhubarb; hence, such noise in other settings.
- 7
UKNonsense; false utterance.
- 8
USAn excited, angry exchange of words, especially at a sporting event.
- 9
USA brawl.
adjective
- 1
Of the colour of rhubarb: either brownish-yellow (the colour of rhubarb rhizomes and roots used for medicinal purposes), or pale red (often the colour of the leafstalks of common rhubarb).
verb
- 1
UKOf fighter aircraft: to fire at a target opportunistically.
- 2
Of an actor in a film, stage play, etc.: to repeat the word rhubarb to create the sound of indistinct conversation; hence, to converse indistinctly, to mumble.
- 3
To articulate indistinctly or mumble (words or phrases); to say inconsequential or vague things because one does not know what to say, or to stall for time.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rhubarb in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense any plant of the genus Rheum:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rhubarb come from?
From Middle English rubarbe, from Anglo-Norman reubarbe (modern French rhubarbe), from Late Latin reubarbarum, rheubarbarum, rubarbera, rybarba, probably from Koine Greek ῥῆον βαρβαρικόν (rhêon barbarikón), from ῥῆον (rhêon, “rhubarb”) + Ancient Greek βαρβαρικόν (barbarikón), neuter of βαρβαρικός (barbarikós, “foreign; barbaric”) (English barbaric). There is also a Medieval Latin variant rabarbarum, which appears to be influenced by Ancient Greek ῥᾶ (rhâ, “rhubarb”), and gave rise to some of the forms in modern languages.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).