Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hear through the grapevine

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.90 in modern English

Syllables
hear through the -grapevine
IPA
42
Scrabble Score
23
Letters
2
Syllables
12
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To hear rumors; to learn through hearsay.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From the Grapevine, a telegraph line that ran from Placerville, California, to Virginia City, Nevada, beginning in 1859, and that was loosely strung from trees so that it curled like the vines of California grapes. In 1861 it was replaced by the Pacific Telegraph, which was strung from poles, and during the American Civil War "grapevine telegraph" became proverbialized to refer to poor and rumor-prone communications in areas cut off by the war.

Inflected Forms

hears through the grapevine (present, singular) hearing through the grapevine (participle, present) heard through the grapevine (participle, past) heard through the grapevine (past)

Synonyms

hear on the grapevine hear on the bush telegraph

Questions

What does hear through the grapevine mean?
To hear rumors; to learn through hearsay.
Where does hear through the grapevine come from?
From the Grapevine, a telegraph line that ran from Placerville, California, to Virginia City, Nevada, beginning in 1859, and that was loosely strung from trees so that it curled like the vines of California grapes. In 1861 it was replaced by the Pacific Telegraph, which was strung from poles, and during the American Civil War "grapevine telegraph" became proverbialized to refer to poor and rumor-prone communications in areas cut off by the war.

How to pronounce hear through the grapevine

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