grapevine

[ greyp-vahyn ]

/ ˈgreɪpˌvaɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR grapevine ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a vine that bears grapes.

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.

a private or secret source of information.

Nearby words

grapery, grapes, grapes of wrath, the, grapeshot, grapestone, grapevine, grapey, graph, graph paper, graph theory, graph-

Origin of grapevine

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

Definition for grapevine (2 of 2)

Grapevine

[ greyp-vahyn ]

/ ˈgreɪpˌvaɪn /

noun

a town in N Texas.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for grapevine

The grapevine and the international media were alight with the buzz of the student killed by the police during the demonstration.
How Havel Inspired the Velvet Revolution|Michael Zantovsky|December 6, 2014|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.
When Harry Met Cheryl|Tom Sykes|July 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Every Afghan will know, through radio and the grapevine, the news that Americans burned the Quran.
U.S. Must Show It Respects Quran and Its Importance to Afghans|Jere Van Dyk|February 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
“I had heard that just from the grapevine so I went and asked her,” Morgan recalls.
Inside Palin's Life in Alaska|Shushannah Walshe|September 14, 2010|DAILY BEAST

Through the grapevine I hear of Dick, a 35-year old attorney in Los Angeles.
Confessions of a 90210 Addict|Taffy Brodesser-Akner|March 8, 2010|DAILY BEAST
This shows that a man lies beneath; the women's tombs are marked by a grapevine or a stem of lotus, also carved in marble.
Florence Nightingale the Angel of the Crimea|Laura E. Richards
They tied his hands and feet with a grapevine and drove a long stake through his breast, and planted it far out in the deep water.
Myths of the Cherokee|James Mooney
The "grapevine telegraph" was an "institution" during the whole war.
Military Reminiscences of the Civil War V2|Jacob Dolson Cox
He walked us toward the powder house, and then, all at once, he shouted at us to throw down our grapevine cigarettes.
Swatty|Ellis Parker Butler
There was not sufficient breeze to stir the branches of the locust or the leaves of the grapevine.
Fair Harbor|Joseph Crosby Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for grapevine

grapevine

/ (ˈɡreɪpˌvaɪn) /

noun

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

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

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

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

grapevine

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of grapevine

Definition for grapevine (2 of 2)

Grapevine

noun

Examples from the Web for grapevine

British Dictionary definitions for grapevine

grapevine

noun