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What is "monk's rhubarb"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Monk's rhubarb

Monk \Monk\, n. [AS. munuc, munec, munc, L. monachus, Gr. ?, fr. mo`nos alone. Cf. Monachism.]

  1. A man who retires from the ordinary temporal concerns of the world, and devotes himself to religion; one of a religious community of men inhabiting a monastery, and bound by vows to a life of chastity, obedience, and poverty. ``A monk out of his cloister.''
    --Chaucer.

    Monks in some respects agree with regulars, as in the substantial vows of religion; but in other respects monks and regulars differ; for that regulars, vows excepted, are not tied up to so strict a rule of life as monks are.
    --Ayliffe.

  2. (Print.) A blotch or spot of ink on a printed page, caused by the ink not being properly distributed. It is distinguished from a friar, or white spot caused by a deficiency of ink.

  3. A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the powder hose or train of a mine.

  4. (Zo["o]l.)

    1. A South American monkey ( Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthocephalus.

    2. The European bullfinch.

      Monk bat (Zo["o]l.), a South American and West Indian bat ( Molossus nasutus); -- so called because the males live in communities by themselves.

      Monk bird(Zo["o]l.), the friar bird.

      Monk seal (Zo["o]l.), a species of seal ( Monachus albiventer) inhabiting the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the adjacent parts of the Atlantic.

      Monk's rhubarb (Bot.), a kind of dock; -- also called patience ( Rumex Patientia).

Monk's rhubarb

Rhubarb \Rhu"barb\, n. [F. rhubarbe, OF. rubarbe, rheubarbe, reubarbare, reobarbe, LL. rheubarbarum for rheum barbarum, Gr. ??? (and ??) rhubarb, from the river Rha (the Volga) on whose banks it grew. Originally, therefore, it was the barbarian plant from the Rha. Cf. Barbarous, Rhaponticine.]

  1. (Bot.) The name of several large perennial herbs of the genus Rheum and order Polygonace[ae].

  2. The large and fleshy leafstalks of Rheum Rhaponticum and other species of the same genus. They are pleasantly acid, and are used in cookery. Called also pieplant.

  3. (Med.) The root of several species of Rheum, used much as a cathartic medicine.

    Monk's rhubarb. (Bot.) See under Monk.

    Turkey rhubarb (Med.), the roots of Rheum Emodi.

Wikipedia
Monk's rhubarb

Monk's rhubarb is not a rhubarb (Rheum), but refers to certain species of the closely related docks (Rumex):

  • Rumex alpinus ( Alpine dock)
  • Rumex patientia (patience dock)