Ida Tarbellphotographed c. 1920Tar·bell (tär?b?l), Ida Minerva 1857-1944. American muckraking writer and editor remembered for her investigations of industry, including History of the Standard Oil Company (1904).American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.