grapevine
noun
grapevine
1 American
[grayp-vahyn]
/ ˈgreɪpˌvaɪn /
Grapevine
2
American
[grayp-vahyn]
/ ˈgreɪpˌvaɪn /
noun
grapevine
British
/ 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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"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
The vase is a rare underglaze decorated with two squirrels hiding in a fruiting grapevine.
From BBC ● May 11, 2025
“I put in the grapevine, too,” El Patron said.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
But this one was so bad that it even offended Martinez Valladares, a Republican whose district stretches from the Grapevine to Victorville.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
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
The partially-submerged vehicle was removed from near the shoreline of the south side of the lake, with the Grapevine Fire Department Water Rescue Team assisting police in the operation.
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
"She knows her business," said the Grapevine man.
From The Port of Adventure by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson
UIV president Lamberto Frescobaldi, a 33rd-generation Tuscan winegrower, said he was also open to the idea of removing old or unviable grapevines.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Just 50 miles from the thriving Somerset grapevines, Phil Collins shows me a much sadder sight.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
"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
“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
Stretched out before her, acres of dead grapevines hung in rows on wooden lattices, like gnarled miniature skeletons.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
