hear on the grapevine

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

hear on the grapevine (third-person singular simple present hears on the grapevine, present participle hearing on the grapevine, simple past and past participle heard on the grapevine)

1. (transitive, informal) To hear as rumor; to learn through friends of friends, etc.
   • 1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 124:

     ' […] But most of me mad dad's crew took off to American from what I can make out' - he's talking too much, he has to stop - 'from what I hear on the family grapevine, that's where they went, New York, their loss as far as I'm concerned, don't know what they're missing, eh? […] '

Synonyms

• hear through the grapevine

Translations

to hear rumors — see hear through the grapevine