A vine is the plant that grapes grow on, and also any climbing or creeping plant: a jungle vine, ivy on a wall. The drink is wine, and a place where grapes are grown is a vineyard. Vine and wine differ in the first sound: for v, your top teeth touch your lower lip, while wine starts with rounded lips, like the beginning of “woo”.
vine: will you get the meaning right?
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a vine + grows/climbs up + wall/fence; grape vines; covered in vines; vineyard; hear something on the grapevine
- My grandfather grows grape vines along the fence behind his house.
- In the jungle, monkeys swing from vine to vine.
- We visited a vineyard in Italy and tasted the local wine.
What changed
First versionWe ordered a bottle of red vine with dinner.
RevisionWe ordered a bottle of red wine with dinner.
Many languages have only one of these two sounds, so v and w are easy to swap. In speech and in writing, the result is “a bottle of red climbing plant”. One letter was changed: v to w.
A grapevine is the same plant, but in the phrase hear something on the grapevine it means news passed along informally from person to person: I heard on the grapevine that Anna is leaving the company.
Your turn
After a rainy summer, the ___ on our balcony climbed all the way up to the roof.
Show the answer
vine — A plant that climbed up the balcony all the way to the roof over the summer is a vine. Wine is a drink, and it can't grow or climb.
Describe a garden, yard or balcony you like. Say which climbing plant grows there and where exactly.
I love my neighbour's balcony: a thick grape vine climbs up the railing and almost hides the window.
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