definitions
  • synonyms

grape

[ greyp ]
/ greɪp /
|

noun

the edible, pulpy, smooth-skinned berry or fruit that grows in clusters on vines of the genus Vitis, and from which wine is made.
any vine bearing this fruit.
a dull, dark, purplish-red color.
grapes, (used with a singular verb) Veterinary Pathology.
  1. tuberculosis occurring in cattle, characterized by the internal formation of grapelike clusters, especially in the lungs.
  2. tuberculosis occurring in horses, characterized by grapelike clusters on the fetlocks.
grapeshot.
the grape, wine.

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RELATED WORDS

wine, origin, generation, collection, epoch, era, harvest, year

Nearby words

granulosis rubra nasi, granum, granville, granville-barker, granville-barker, harley, grape, grape family, grape fern, grape hyacinth, grape ivy, grape phylloxera

Origin of grape

1200–50; Middle English < Old French, variant of crape cluster of fruit or flowers, originally hook (for pruning vines) < Germanic; compare GermanKrapf hook and grapple, grapnel
Related formsgrape·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for grape

British Dictionary definitions for grape

grape

/ (ɡreɪp) /

noun

the fruit of the grapevine, which has a purple or green skin and sweet flesh: eaten raw, dried to make raisins, currants, or sultanas, or used for making wine
any of various plants that bear grapelike fruit, such as the Oregon grape
See grapevine (def. 1)
the grape an informal term for wine
See grapeshot
Derived Formsgrapeless, adjectivegrapelike, adjective

Word Origin for grape

C13: from Old French grape bunch of grapes, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German krāpfo; related to cramp ², grapple
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for grape

grape

n.

mid-13c., from Old French grape "bunch of grapes, grape" (12c.), probably a back-formation from graper "steal; grasp; catch with a hook; pick (grapes)," from a Frankish or other Germanic word, from Proto-Germanic *krappon "hook" (cf. Middle Dutch crappe, Old High German krapfo "hook;" also see cramp (n.2)). The original notion perhaps was "vine hook for grape-picking." The vine is not native to England. The word replaced Old English winberige "wine berry." Spanish grapa, Italian grappa also are Germanic loan-words.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with grape

grape

see sour grapes.

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