grapevine

4 definitions • 3 examples

a type of climbing plant on which grapes grow

the climbing plant that grapes grow on

an unofficial, informal way of getting information by hearing about it from someone who heard it from someone else:

I heard through the grapevine that they fired him – is that true?

an informal way in which information is shared in a group of people:

We hear on the grapevine that the companies are discussing a merger.

For days the scientific grapevine has been buzzing with news of the discovery.