vine
noun
any plant having a long, slender stem that trails or creeps on the ground or climbs by winding itself about a support or holding fast with tendrils or claspers.
vine
American
[vahyn]
/ vaɪn /
noun
-
vines
plural
-
any plant having a long, slender stem that trails or creeps on the ground or climbs by winding itself about a support or holding fast with tendrils or claspers.
-
the stem of any such plant.
-
a grape plant.
vine
1
British
/ vaɪn /
noun
-
any of various plants, esp the grapevine, having long flexible stems that creep along the ground or climb by clinging to a support by means of tendrils, leafstalks, etc
-
the stem of such a plant
Vine
2
British
/ vaɪn /
noun
vine
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of vine
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French vi ( g ) ne < Latin vīnea vine(yard), equivalent to vīn ( um ) wine + -ea, feminine of -eus -eous
Explanation
A vine is a plant that spreads by creeping along the ground or climbing up some kind of support. Grapes are one example of a vine, and ivy is another. The famous children's book Madeline takes place "in an old house in Paris that was covered with vines." Vines naturally trail along or climb trees, fences, and houses. The root of vine means "wine," and the original definition was "plant bearing grapes for making wine."
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:
Brushing his hand over crackling vine leaves, French winemaker Gregory Guibergia was relieved a wildfire only scorched the edge of his vineyard but he feared its smoke would ruin this year's vintage.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
As a result, McMullen says he’s leaving 30% of his fruit to rot on the vine this season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
We do need to eliminate poverty for older Americans, but the answer lies in strengthening SSI, which has been allowed to wither on the vine.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 10, 2026
The melons had already been freed from the vine by the cutters, farmworkers well-versed in when the fruit is ripe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2025
Dicey let go of the vine in exasperation and ran to help.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
"She was taken to hospital with non-stop fits and convulsions," he told BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Divine is backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who had a senior role at the social media platform when it purchased the Vine in 2012.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
WSJ Leadership Institute’s Katie Deighton reports on the resurrection—sort of—of a much-missed social network: Remember Vine, the six-second Twitter-owned video app partially responsible for Logan Paul’s career?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The tabloid Daily Mail's Sarah Vine blamed social media for amplifying the story.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
In some way, no one knows clearly how or when, the God of the Vine, Dionysus, came to take his place, too, at Eleusis, side by side with Demeter.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
"The vines were able to build up sufficient water reserves so that, despite the extreme heat of recent months, the grapes reached maturity in good conditions," Mobrici said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Burnt-sienna vines twist through simmering ocher air, while flora sprout through these roiling masses in hues of chromium oxide and cadmium green.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
“Yes, there are laws,” said Jesus, his face wrinkled from years of harvesting garlic, pruning grape vines and picking blackberries in the sun-baked San Joaquin Valley.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
When AFP visited, he was climbing through rows of vines winding up the hill, collecting samples to test their ripeness.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
The gear will just weigh us down, and we at least need to try to find them before eking out a life inside caves and eating lake vines.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Definitions 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.
