monk's rhubarb

2 definitions found

monk's rhubarb - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  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.
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              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.
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     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.
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     3. A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the
        powder hose or train of a mine.
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     4. (Zool.)
        (a) A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also
            applied to other species, as Cebus xanthocephalus.
        (b) The European bullfinch.
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     Monk bat (Zool.), a South American and West Indian bat
        (Molossus nasutus); -- so called because the males live
        in communities by themselves.
  
     Monk bird(Zool.), the friar bird.
  
     Monk seal (Zool.), 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).
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  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 Polygonaceae.
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     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.
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     3. (Med.) The root of several species of Rheum, used much
        as a cathartic medicine.
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     Monk's rhubarb. (Bot.) See under Monk.
  
     Turkey rhubarb (Med.), the roots of Rheum Emodi.
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