Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use grapevine in a sentence

31 example sentences · noun, verb

Grapevine means the plant, a vine of genus Vitis, on which grapes grow. Example: “Although many grapevines have geographical names, these rarely reflect their real origin, if known at all.”

Examples of grapevine by meaning

nounThe 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.

nounAn informal person-to-person means of circulating information or gossip.

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

nounA 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
  • 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
  • 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"...

verbTo 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
  • 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

verbTo 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
  • 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

verbTo 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.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
  • 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

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

verbOf information, to spread as a rumor.

  • Watson's challenge gradually grapevined its way through the business world, many business groups asked Mr.1958, Walter Russell, Lao Russell, The World Crisis: Its Explanation and Solution, page 94
  • But the story grapevined around to Marshal Petain.1964, Dorothy Shipley White, Seeds of Discord, page 27
  • Word of the fight grapevined fast, and from all the other bonus army camps reinforcements rushed in.2009, Katharine Graham, Katharine Graham's Washington

More sentences with grapevine

  • I heard through the grapevine that she likes him.From the entry hear through the grapevine
  • I heard on the office grapevine that you’re leaving us.From the entry hear on the grapevine
  • She married him the following summer under the grapevined trellis in his father's apple orchard.2012, Dawn Tripp, Moon Tide: A Novel. From the entry grapevined
  • Once put out on the grapevine, it will travel with blinding speed around the circuit.1992, Robert L. Genua, Managing Your Mouth: An Owner's Manual for Your Most Important Business Asset, →ISBN. From the entry bad news travels fast
  • I heard on the grapevine he is absolutely hideola — even for a man.1989, Julie Burchill, Ambition, Bodley Head, →ISBN, page 85. From the entry hideola
  • Somewhat further removed is a stucco plaque with two goats clymant by a grapevine (Erdmann, no. 38).1978, Christopher J. Brunner, Sasanian Stamp Seals in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, N.Y.: Metropolitan Museum of Art, →ISBN…. From the entry clymant
  • I have recently reclad the south-west facing side of my single-storey cottage, having first removed a grapevine planted by the previous owner that had become massive and invasive.2015 February 7, Helen Yemm, “Thorny problems: How can I soften a brick wall with plants?”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G7. From the entry reclad
  • Thus when sampling Verdello grapevines, the likelihood of picking up a vine that really isn't Verdello is high, and the skill of the ampelographer becomes of paramount importance.2014, Ian D'Agata, Native Wine Grapes of Italy, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 21. From the entry ampelographer
  • Within a few months, the regional grapevine carried news of these "red-haired devils"—a Chinese term for Caucasians—who restored life and hope to the lepers in the graveyards of Sunwui.1988, Jean-Paul Wiest, Maryknoll in China: A History, 1918-1955, M. E. Sharpe, Inc., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 164. From the entry Sunwui
  • 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, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing…. From the entry locate

Meaning of grapevine

  1. noun The plant, a vine of genus Vitis, on which grapes grow.
  2. noun An informal person-to-person means of circulating information or gossip.
  3. noun A rumor.

Full definition of grapevine

Questions about grapevine in a sentence

How do you use grapevine in a sentence?
Grapevine is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Although many grapevines have geographical names, these rarely reflect their real origin, if known at all.”
What is a short sentence with grapevine?
“But the story grapevined around to Marshal Petain.”
What does grapevine mean?
Grapevine means the plant, a vine of genus Vitis, on which grapes grow.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: grapevine (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use grapevine in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/grapevine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.