Puritans holding rhubarb sticks out (9)

I believe the answer is:

protrudes

'sticks out' is the definition.
('protrude' can be a synonym of 'stick out')

'puritans holding rhubarb' is the wordplay.
'puritans' becomes 'prudes' ('prude' can be a synonym of 'puritan').
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'rhubarb' becomes 'rot' (both can mean nonsense or false information).
'prudes' placed around 'rot' is 'PROTRUDES'.

(Another definition for protrudes that I've seen is " Sticks out".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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