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• grapevine
  grapevine

  noun

  a vine that bears grapes.
• Grapevine
  Grapevine

  noun

  a town in N Texas.

grapevine

¹ American  

[greyp-vahyn] / ˈgreɪpˌvaɪn /

noun

grapevines plural

1. a vine that bears grapes.

2. Also called grapevine telegraph.  a person-to-person method of spreading rumors, gossip, information, etc., by informal or unofficial conversation, letter writing, or the like.

3. a private or secret source of information.

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Grapevine ² American  

[greyp-vahyn] / ˈgreɪpˌvaɪn /

noun

1. a town in N Texas.

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grapevine British  

/ ˈɡreɪpˌvaɪn /

noun

1. any of several vitaceous vines of the genus Vitis, esp V. vinifera of E Asia, widely cultivated for its fruit (grapes): family Vitaceae

2. informal an unofficial means of relaying information, esp from person to person

3. a wrestling hold in which a wrestler entwines his own leg around his opponent's and exerts pressure against various joints

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• grapevines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of grapevine

1645–55; 1860–65, grapevine for def. 2; grape + vine

Explanation

The grapevine is a word for gossip. Anything heard on the grapevine was learned by word of mouth. In the Civil War, a grapevine telegraph was a gadget used for communicating. From there, people started talking about "the grapevine" as a source of information, especially gossip. If you heard from a friend of a friend that another friend is getting married, you heard it on the grapevine. If your cousin's cousin told you about a family scandal, you heard it on the grapevine. The grapevine is unofficial and full of hearsay: what you hear might not be accurate.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grapevine Grapevine grapevines

"I'd heard on the grapevine that she was looking for a song or two, so I set about writing some."

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

"Online patient communities work a lot like a neighborhood grapevine," says Ungar.

From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026

Some reporters have gotten Trump’s digits through the grapevine or from colleagues; at least one simply asked him.

From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2026

Bill Musgrave, then the Golden Bears’ offensive coordinator, had heard about Mendoza through the coaching grapevine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

It just hung there all limp and lifeless, and looked like a dead grapevine.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

My wife and I drove up to Bakersfield and back the other day and on the home trip we stopped at Grapevine for gas and Cokes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026

"We wouldn't encourage willingly driving your vehicle into the water," said Katharina Gamboa of the Grapevine Police Department, in comments reported by the BBC's US news partner CBS News.

From BBC ● May 20, 2026

The event, organized by the American Conservative Union, launched with an international summit on March 25, 2026, and runs through March 28 in Grapevine, Texas.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026

“I feel like it will make people lazy. If they’re stuck on something they’ll always go to AI,” said Chase Morgan, a 13-year-old in Grapevine, Texas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

I believe that the Grapevine is their only road—" "You believe, colonel, but you do not know.

From The Long Roll by Johnston, Mary

"I think this decline is very regrettable," Tariq Lenny Bas, who grew up among the grapevines of western Austria, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

The nursery is famous for its grapevines and root stock of almond, walnut and pistachio, which are sold to farmers, commercial growers and retail nurseries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2024

“These invasive insects feed on the sap of grapevines, while also leaving behind a sticky honeydew residue on the clusters and leaves.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2024

“It’s much faster to do, and makes a lot more sense, when you have an entire crew,” he admitted before discussing the tractors, the road trips and the grapevines that keep him grounded.

From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2024

There are rows and rows and rows of grapevines on both sides of our driveway, and lots of plants in between them that Dad says are weeds and aren’t supposed to be there.

From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones