grapevine

¹

[ greyp-vahyn ]

noun

1. a vine that bears grapes.
2. Also called grape·vine tel·e·graph [greyp, -vahyn , tel, -i-graf]. 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.

Grapevine

²

[ greyp-vahyn ]

noun

1. a town in N Texas.

grapevine

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of grapevine¹

1645–55; 1860–65, Americanism grapevine fordef 2; grape + vine

Example Sentences

At the winery, we had a full hookup for the RV on a gravel lot next to the grapevines.

From Washington Post

Even there, Oliver May, the manager of Discovery Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills, says that while growers tend to prefer hot years, there’s a limit to what any grapevines can take.

From Time

Cell phones and online journals are a way for hikers to communicate, but old-fashioned notebook communal-trail registers found in shelters remain an important part of the hiker grapevine.

From Outside Online

Sometimes I find out through the grapevine that she made plans with other friends.

From Washington Post

The grapevine and the international media were alight with the buzz of the student killed by the police during the demonstration.

From The Daily Beast

Prince Harry has heard on the grapevine that UK pop star Cheryl Cole has a crush on him - and finds it pretty funny.

From The Daily Beast

Every Afghan will know, through radio and the grapevine, the news that Americans burned the Quran.

From The Daily Beast

“I had heard that just from the grapevine so I went and asked her,” Morgan recalls.

From The Daily Beast

So over the past four or five years, the censorship strategy shifted from memos to an “official grapevine” type of operation.

From The Daily Beast

We had eaten our supper and were seated on the ground, under a high, branching tree into which was trained a huge grapevine.

From Project Gutenberg

We briskly project ourselves to and fro in a swing of Nature's own contriving, namely, the tendrils of the wild grapevine.

From Project Gutenberg

We need another axeman to clear away the fallen trees and break the nets of grapevine.

From Project Gutenberg

A corpse was bound to it by a binding of grapevine and the two ends of the stretcher rested upon the shoulders of the bearers.

From Project Gutenberg

The various applications recommended in this work for the destruction of insects, are useful on the grapevine.

From Project Gutenberg