Word Study
grapevine
CIDE DICTIONARY
grapevine, n.
A vine or climbing shrub, of the genus Vitis , having small green flowers and lobed leaves, and bearing the fruit called grapes . [1913 Webster]
" The common grapevine of the Old World is Vitis vinifera , and is a native of Central Asia. Another variety is that yielding small seedless grapes commonly called Zante currants . The northern Fox grape of the United States is the V. Labrusca , from which, by cultivation, has come the Isabella variety. The southern Fox grape , or Muscadine , is the V. vulpina . The Frost grape is V. cordifolia , which has very fragrant flowers, and ripens after the early frosts." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
grapevine, n.
1 any of various vines of the genus Vitis, esp. Vitis vinifera.
2 colloq. the means of transmission of unofficial information or rumour (heard it through the grapevine).
1 any of various vines of the genus Vitis, esp. Vitis vinifera.
2 colloq. the means of transmission of unofficial information or rumour (heard it through the grapevine).
THESAURUS
grapevine
adviser, algae, announcer, annunciator, authority, autophyte, bean, bracken, brown algae, bruit, bush telegraph, buzz, canard, channel, climber, common talk, communicant, communicator, conferva, confervoid, creeper, cry, diatom, enlightener, expert witness, fern, flying rumor, fruits and vegetables, fucus, fungus, gossip, gossipmonger, grapevine telegraph, green algae, gulfweed, hearsay, herb, heterophyte, idea afloat, informant, information center, information medium, informer, interviewee, ivy, kelp, latrine rumor, legume, lentil, liana, lichen, liverwort, mold, monitor, moss, mouthpiece, mushroom, news stirring, newsmonger, notifier, on-dit, parasite, parasitic plant, pea, perthophyte, phytoplankton, pipeline, planktonic algae, plant families, press, public relations officer, publisher, puffball, pulse, radio, red algae, report, reporter, rockweed, roorback, rumble, rumor, rust, saprophyte, sargasso, sargassum, scuttlebutt, sea lentil, sea moss, sea wrack, seaweed, smut, source, spokesman, succulent, talk, television, teller, tipster, toadstool, tout, town talk, unconfirmed report, vetch, vine, whisper, witness, wort, wrackFor further exploring for "grapevine" in Webster Dictionary Online