Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a network of unofficial sources, rumours, half-truths etc, which seems to spread the news around a circle or group faster than any sanctioned announcement; coined during US Civil War, and abbr. ‘a despatch by grape-vine telegraph’; thus v. to obtain or circulate such iinformation (see cite 1984).

1864		in Hundley Prison Echoes 104: The prison is greatly agitated tonight with a fearful ‘grape’ from Atlanta [DA].
1874		J.H. Carter ‘Our Member From Duck Creek Settlement’ in Log of Commodore Rollingpin 219: He / Commenced fer to print a rip-snortin’ daily [...] His specials, double-leaded so fine, / From beginnin’ ’ter end wer the reg’lar grapevine.
1928		M.C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) 185: The grapevine (secret system of communication between prisoners) operates even in England.
1939		R. Chandler ‘Pearls Are a Nuisance’ in Spanish Blood (1946) 105: I feel that we must, as they say, tap the grapevine. When a string of pearls is stolen, all the underworld knows it.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 14: I admit the existence of the grapevine; but to me it has no greater significance than its similarity to the bush wireless of the jungle.
1953		‘William Lee’ Junkie (1966) 121: If any one makes a good score, she puts out a grapevine to find out who was in on the job.
1965		W. Dick Bunch of Ratbags 213: We heard a whisper on the grapevine that Brian was the attacker and we believed it [...] The grapevine was nearly always right!
1972		P. Fordham Inside the Und. 71: The grapevine says that guns have appeared recently.
1980		M. Thelwell Harder They Come 228: It was arranged for her to learn via the grapevine that he was a clerk.
1984		J. Ellroy Because the Night 60: ‘How did you grapevine this info, Dutch?’ ‘Through a friend on the feds’.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 190: grapevine: an unofficial means of relaying information throughout the prison, from prison to prison, and to and from the outside world.
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 50: Besides, the grapevine tells me you have a new lady in your life.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 382: Climb the Nigger Grapevine. Comb the Nigger Underworld. Patch the Nigger Switchboard.
2006		B. Matthews Intractable [ebook] The Grafton grapevine was one of the most effective communication systems I had ever encountered [...] [W]ithin the prison we had a news flow that would put AAP or the Reuters news wire service to shame.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1863		Army Police Record in Annals of the Army of the Cumberland 543: Colonel Truesdail established a special ‘grape-vine’ mail for Nashville and vicinity rebeldom.
1868		Alta Calif. 30 Apr. 7/6: Major-General Thomas is no sensationalist; he is not given to grape-vine despatches [DA].
1930		R. Whitfield Green Ice (1988) 16: My grapevine line on Herb Steiner was pretty complete.
1945		Essex Newsman 3 July 2/2: The news [...] spreads with mysterious swioftness [...] there appears to be a special kind of ‘grapevine’ wireless.