hear through the grapevine en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
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.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) To hear rumors; to learn through hearsay.
I heard it through the grapevine / Not much longer would you be mine
1966, Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, I Heard It Through the Grapevine:I heard through the grapevine that she likes him.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| hears through the grapevine | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| hearing through the grapevine | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| heard through the grapevine | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| heard through the grapevine | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Synonyms
hear on the grapevine · hear on the bush telegraph
Translations (15)
is heyra á skotspónum (learn through rumors) · de über die Buschtrommeln hören (learn through rumors) · de die Nachricht sprach sich herum (learn through rumors) · fi kuulla puskaradiosta (learn through rumors) · de durch die Buschtrommeln hören (learn through rumors) · es oír decir (learn through rumors) · is frétta á utan að sér (learn through rumors) · de durch die Buschtrommel hören (learn through rumors) · de ich hab so was läuten hören (learn through rumors) · sv höra via djungeltrumman (learn through rumors) · de über die Urwaldtrommel hören (learn through rumors) · is heyra á utan að sér (learn through rumors) · de über die Buschtrommel hören (learn through rumors) · is frétta á skotspónum (learn through rumors) · es enterarse por radio macuto (learn through rumors)