grapevine
noun
- plant producing grapes
- source of gossip
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹeɪp.vaɪn/
name
Etymology: In Texas, from grapevine, referring to the wild grapes that grew in the area.
- A place in the United States:
- A place in the United States:
- A place in the United States:
- A place in the United States:
noun
Etymology: From grape + vine.
- 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.”
- An informal person-to-person means of circulating information or gossip.
“I heard through the grapevine that Jim will be leaving soon.”
“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.”
- A rumor.
“The legend, like all army grapevine, got around to me.”
“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.”
- A move in which the feet are alternately placed in front of each other, while both remaining on the ice or ground, incorporating half-turns.
- A leglock.
- A dance figure in partner dancing that includes sidesteps and steps across the support foot. See Grapevine (dance move).
verb
Etymology: From grape + vine.
- To restrain in a leglock.
“From the top he grapevined his leg around Tibbits' leg and planted his elbow in his opponent's opposite side.”
“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.”
- To drape or curl around adjacent objects.
“This results from the plug wires being grapevined around each other too closely.”
“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.”
- To move one's body in a smooth undulating wave while stepping in the direction the wave is moving.
“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.”
“The underwear-baker grapevined down the length of the display and grabbed a to-go box from the stack on top of it.”
- To score mortar at a joint.
“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.”
“Generally the mortar line was “grapevined” (scored) and “penciled” (the score painted with a fine white line), which separated each brick.”
- Of information, to spread as a rumor.
“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.”
“But the story grapevined around to Marshal Petain.”
- Of a person or group, to spread (a rumor).
“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.”
“His flock had already grapevined the what and why.”
- To 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.”