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 vine was rooted in what had been Koskey’s front yard and crawled to where her house stood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
Perceiving this he let her go and sat down opposite an elm tree over which grew a vine loaded with purple grapes.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
A new app seen as a spiritual successor to short-form video service Vine has been released to the public.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The tabloid Daily Mail's Sarah Vine blamed social media for amplifying the story.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Team-mates Jay Vine of Australia and Marc Soler of Spain were badly hurt in the crash.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
While at Oracle, he started creating comedic videos, which he likens to Dilbert cartoons, for the now-defunct six-second video app Vine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 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
Pulling out vines and heavy rains are helping the state’s vineyards deal with shrinking demand for wine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
"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
“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
Just as quickly as they had appeared, the golden arrows and vines vanished.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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.
