grapevine

plural grapevines · alternative grape vine · alternative grape-vine

1. The plant, a vine of genus Vitis, on which grapes grow.

   Although many grapevines have geographical names, these rarely reflect their real origin, if known at all.

   Synonyms: winetree

2. An informal person-to-person means of circulating information or gossip.

   I heard through the grapevine that Jim will be leaving soon.

   4 more examples

   The Bat—they called him the Bat. […] Most lone wolves had a moll at any rate—women were their ruin—but if the Bat had a moll, not even the grapevine telegraph could locate her.

   1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, “The Shadow of the Bat”, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 6–7

   I heard it through the grapevine Not much longer would you be mine.

   1966, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong (songwriters), "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"

   Twitchers are very mobile and may travel great distances to see rare birds, of which they hear through their efficient ‘grapevine’.

   1981, Peter Weaver, The Birdwatcher's Dictionary, London: T & AD Poyser, page 120

   The grapevine was so fast that sometimes news was circulated before it happened.

   2010, Don Briddell, The Republic of Crisfield, page 89

   Synonyms: jungle drums, bush telegraph, jungle telegraph, mulga wire, rumor mill

3. rareapparently primarily Indian EnglishA rumor.

   The legend, like all army grapevine, got around to me.

   1937 February, Hudson Hawley, “There IS a Saluting Demon”, in American Legion Monthly, volume 22, number 2, page 23

   3 more examples

   The grapevine was that the reason for the school closure was to do with the fact that a lot of students from Bonda had absconded to go to war because Bonda was close to the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

   2009, Sinikiwe Joyce Msindo, Sweet Lemons, page 9

   An image of Mohanlal with a tonsured head recently spread online and people started guessing about the film it belonged to. The majority guess was for a film directed by Prajith which had announced a character that was supposed to be acted by Mohanlal named Benz Vasu. But the director denied the grapevine and more guesses and assumptions starting flowing in.

   2016, indiaglitz.com, "Thampi Kannanthanam confirms that Mohanlal's Rajavinte Makan Sequel not dropped" https://web.archive.org/web/20250121190706/https://www.indiaglitz.com/thampi-kannanthanam-confirms-that-mohanlals-rajavinte-makan-sequel-not-dropped-malayalam-news-174624

   The grapevine was that Saina believed that Gopichand was focussing more on PV Sindhu.·

   2020 January 13, “Pullela Gopichand blames Prakash Padukone for encouraging Saina Nehwal to leave Hyderabad”, in ESPN

4. hobbiesA move in which the feet are alternately placed in front of each other, while both remaining on the ice or ground, incorporating half-turns.
5. governmentA leglock.
6. A dance figure in partner dancing that includes sidesteps and steps across the support foot. See Grapevine (dance move).

present singular third person grapevines · participle present grapevining · participle past grapevined · past grapevined · alternative grape vine · alternative grape-vine

1. transitivegovernmentTo restrain in a leglock.

   From the top he grapevined his leg around Tibbits' leg and planted his elbow in his opponent's opposite side.

   2007, Steve Wolfe, Call Us Champions: More Alaska Wrestling Stories

   2 more examples

   The Low Mount is the position where your hips are tight to your opponent's and your legs are usually grapevined or locked underneath his.

   2008, Saulo Ribeiro, Jiu-Jitsu University

   So now she's grapevined me, I can't straighten my legs, which means I can't generate the momentum I need to bridge.

   2022, David Young, Sean Black, The Ground Is My Ocean

2. transitiveTo drape or curl around adjacent objects.

   This results from the plug wires being grapevined around each other too closely.

   1953 October, E.F. Lindsley, “What You Can Do With Spark-Plug Tester”, in Popular Science, volume 163, number 4, page 204

   4 more examples

   I drove around town looking at the limp glitter of Christmas decorations grapevined around traffic lights which just blinked after a certain hour, even on a Friday night.

   2012, Daniel Handler, Watch Your Mouth

   Balance on the back of the sit bones with the arms “grapevined” under the calves, with hands wrapping around to hold the ankles.

   2014, Celeste Corey-Zopich, Brett Howard, Dawn-Marie Ickes, Pilates for Children and Adolescents

   A matted beard tingled from his shin and grapevined all over the exposed parts of his body.

   2017, Aben Kandel, City for Conquest

   I grapevined my right arm around one of his legs, then flung myself backward to the ground, slamming the knife-wielding idiot into the ground, and my shoulders into the idiot.

   2020, Laurell K.Hamilton, Fantastic Hope

3. intransitiveTo move one's body in a smooth undulating wave while stepping in the direction the wave is moving.

   When the room grapevined left, I grapevined right, causing a head-on collision with the lady next to me.

   2023, Betsy Schow, Finished Being Fat: An Accidental Adventure in Losing Weight

   2 more examples

   Up on the stage, the dancers twirled and whirled in time to the music and then grapevined across the broad expanse and exited stage left.

   2013, S.C. Rackes, Cast a Dark Shadow, page 25

   The underwear-baker grapevined down the length of the display and grabbed a to-go box from the stack on top of it.

   2020, Emily Henry, Beach Read

4. transitiveTo score mortar at a joint.

   Generally the mortar line was “grapevined” (scored) and “penciled” (the score painted with a fine white line), which separated each brick.

   2021, Clay Lancaster, Antebellum Architecture of Kentucky

   1 more example

   The bridge is faced with rusticated stone and grapevined mortar joints, a trademark of WPA-built structures in southeast Colorado, and features beveled stone piers, corbeled copings and tapered voussoirs for the arches.

   1986, Rebecca Herbst, Vicki Rottman, Historic Bridges of Colorado, page 88

5. intransitivetransitiveOf information, to spread as a rumor.

   But the story grapevined around to Marshal Petain.

   1964, Dorothy Shipley White, Seeds of Discord, page 27

   2 more examples

   For several years, as Mr. Watson's challenge gradually grapevined its way through the business world, many business groups asked Mr. Russell to speak at their directors' meetings and conventions.

   1958, Walter Russell, Lao Russell, The World Crisis: Its Explanation and Solution, page 94

   Word of the fight grapevined fast, and from all the other bonus army camps reinforcements rushed in.

   2009, Katharine Graham, Katharine Graham's Washington

6. intransitivetransitiveOf a person or group, to spread (a rumor).

   His flock had already grapevined the what and why.

   2015, Robert A. Bonner, Embers in the Ashes (Of History and Indifference)

   2 more examples

   The doctor's orders were soon grapevined around the league, and all the bench jockeys on the circuit were quickly counting ten on every pitch Lefty made.

   2014, Gordon S. (Mickey) Cochrane, Baseball: The Fans' Game, page 125

   It will not only be long remembered by the nine million Chinese on Formosa and the twelve and half million overseas Chinese, but will soon be grapevined to the Chinese mainland and whispered there from person to person among the hundreds of millions of Chinese who have been living and suffering for the last five years under Communist tyranny.

   2022, Chih-Ping Chou, Carlos Lin, Power of Freedom: Hu Shih's Political Writings, page 282

7. transitiveTo link up through an informal communication network.

   But with the Negro foster homes in Pasadena grapevined together, the circumstances of little Narva did not make anyone enthusiastic about taking her into their homes.

   2005, Okeyo A. Jumal, Spiritual Shackles: Historical Novel, page 63

1. A place in the United States:
   1. An unincorporated community in Grant County, Arkansas.
   2. An unincorporated community in Kern County, California, at the foot of a grade called The Grapevine.
   3. An unincorporated community in Hopkins County, Kentucky.
   4. A city in Tarrant County, Texas.