Rhubarb vs. Root — What's the Difference?

Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks (petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of Rheum in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizomes – is also called rhubarb.

In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They most often lie below the surface of the soil, but roots can also be aerial or aerating, that is, growing up above the ground or especially above water.

Any of several plants of the genus Rheum, especially R. rhabarbarum, having long edible green or reddish leafstalks that are usually cooked and sweetened. Also called pie plant.

The part of a plant which attaches it to the ground or to a support, typically underground, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches and fibres

A preparation made from the dried rhizomes and roots of any of several plants of the genus Rheum, especially R. palmatum or R. officinale of East Asia, used as a laxative.

The basic cause, source, or origin of something

(Informal)A quarrel, fight, or heated discussion.

A number or quantity that when multiplied by itself, typically a specified number of times, gives a specified number or quantity.

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).

A user account with full and unrestricted access to a system

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.

An act of sexual intercourse.

The dried rhizome and roots of Rheum palmatum (Chinese rhubarb) or Rheum officinale (Tibetan rhubarb), from China, used as a laxative and purgative.

An act of rooting

A Royal Air Force World War II code name for operations by aircraft (fighters and fighter-bombers) involving low-level flight to seek opportunistic targets.

Cause (a plant or cutting) to grow roots

(Saskatchewan) A ditch alongside a road or highway.

Establish deeply and firmly

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.

Cause (someone) to stand immobile through fear or amazement

Nonsense; false utterance.

Gain access to the root account of (a smartphone or computer)

An excited, angry exchange of words, especially at a sporting event.

Have sexual intercourse with.

A brawl.

(of an animal) turn up the ground with its snout in search of food

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).

The usually underground portion of a plant that lacks buds, leaves, or nodes and serves as support, draws minerals and water from the surrounding soil, and sometimes stores food.

Of fighter aircraft: to fire at a target opportunistically.

Any of various other underground plant parts, especially an underground stem such as a rhizome, corm, or tuber.

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.

The embedded part of an organ or structure such as a hair, tooth, or nerve, that serves as a base or support.

(transitive) 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.

The bottom or supporting part of something

The name of several large perennial herbs of the genus Rheum and order Polygonaceæ.

The essential part or element; the basic core

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.

A primary source; an origin.

The root of several species of Rheum, used much as a cathartic medicine.

A progenitor or ancestor from which a person or family is descended.

Long pinkish sour leafstalks usually eaten cooked and sweetened

Often roots The condition of being settled and of belonging to a particular place or society

Plants having long green or reddish acidic leafstalks growing in basal clumps; stems (and only the stems) are edible when cooked; leaves are poisonous

Roots The state of having or establishing an indigenous relationship with or a personal affinity for a particular culture, society, or environment

The element that carries the main component of meaning in a word and provides the basis from which a word is derived by adding affixes or inflectional endings or by phonetic change.

Such an element reconstructed for a protolanguage. Also called radical.

A number that when multiplied by itself an indicated number of times forms a product equal to a specified number. For example, a fourth root of 4 is √2. Also called nth root.

A number that reduces a polynomial equation in one variable to an identity when it is substituted for the variable.

A number at which a polynomial has the value zero.

The note from which a chord is built.

Such a note occurring as the lowest note of a triad or other chord.

To grow roots or a root

To become firmly established or settled

To plant and fix the roots of (a plant) in soil or the ground.

To establish or settle firmly

To be the source or origin of

To dig or pull out by the roots. Often used with up or out

To remove or get rid of. Often used with out

To turn up by digging with the snout or nose

To cause to appear or be known. Used with out

To turn over the earth with the snout or nose.

To search or rummage for something

To give audible encouragement or applause to a contestant or team; cheer.

To give moral support to someone; hope for a favorable outcome for someone

The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction.

A root vegetable.

The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.

The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.

The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.

(figurative) The primary source; origin.

(aviation) The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.

(engineering) The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.

(arithmetic) Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.

(arithmetic) A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, "the root of" is often abbreviated to "root").

(analysis) A zero (of an equation).

The single node of a tree that has no parent.

(linguistic morphology) The primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Inflectional stems often derive from roots.

(philology) A word from which another word or words are derived.

(music) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.

The lowest place, position, or part.

(computing) In UNIX terminology, the first user account with complete access to the operating system and its configuration, found at the root of the directory structure; the person who manages accounts on a UNIX system.

(computing) The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.

(slang) A penis, especially the base of a penis.

An act of sexual intercourse.

A sexual partner.

To grow roots; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.

To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.

To be firmly fixed; to be established.

To get root or privileged access on a computer system or mobile phone, often through bypassing some security mechanism.

(ambitransitive) To turn up or dig with the snout.

(by extension) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.

(intransitive) To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.

(intransitive) Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.

(transitive) To root out; to abolish.

To sexually penetrate.

To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. See root for.

To turn up the earth with the snout, as swine.

Hence, to seek for favor or advancement by low arts or groveling servility; to fawn servilely.

To turn up or to dig out with the snout; as, the swine roots the earth.

To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.

To be firmly fixed; to be established.

To shout for, or otherwise noisly applaud or encourage, a contestant, as in sports; hence, to wish earnestly for the success of some one or the happening of some event, with the superstitious notion that this action may have efficacy; - usually with for; as, the crowd rooted for the home team.

To plant and fix deeply in the earth, or as in the earth; to implant firmly; hence, to make deep or radical; to establish; - used chiefly in the participle; as, rooted trees or forests; rooted dislike.

To tear up by the root; to eradicate; to extirpate; - with up, out, or away.

The underground portion of a plant, whether a true root or a tuber, a bulb or rootstock, as in the potato, the onion, or the sweet flag.

An edible or esculent root, especially of such plants as produce a single root, as the beet, carrot, etc.; as, the root crop.

That which resembles a root in position or function, esp. as a source of nourishment or support; that from which anything proceeds as if by growth or development; as, the root of a tooth, a nail, a cancer, and the like.

A primitive form of speech; one of the earliest terms employed in language; a word from which other words are formed; a radix, or radical.

The time which to reckon in making calculations.

That factor of a quantity which when multiplied into itself will produce that quantity; thus, 3 is a root of 9, because 3 multiplied into itself produces 9; 3 is the cube root of 27.

The lowest place, position, or part.

(botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground

(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed;

The place where something begins, where it springs into being;

A number that when multiplied by itself some number of times equals a given number

The set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation

Someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)

A simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes

The part of a tooth that is embedded in the jaw and serves as support

Take root and begin to grow;

Come into existence, originate;

Plant by the roots

Dig with the snout;

Take sides with; align oneself with; show strong sympathy for;

Become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style;

Cause to take roots