Dictionary.com Thesaurus.com

hey rube

American

interjection

(used as a call to rally circus or carnival personnel in a fight, especially in a fight with townspeople.)

noun

a fight between townspeople and the members of a circus or carnival.

Etymology

Origin of hey rube

First recorded in 1880–85

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.