Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In botany, growth downward, as shown in the roots of plants and sometimes in stems and rootstocks; the power or tendency to grow toward the earth.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Biol.) A disposition to turn or incline towards the earth; the influence of gravity in determining the direction of growth of an organ.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun biology The movement of a
plant in response togravity (either downwards or upwards)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an orienting response to gravity
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Once plant life invaded the land it was subject to the action of gravity, and geotropism ( "earth-turning" G), involving an automatic and adaptive response to gravity, was developed.
The Human Brain Asimov, Isaac 1963
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But atavistic, or vestigial, geotropism in Genesistrine -- or a million larvae start crawling, and a million little frogs start hopping -- knowing no more what it's all about than we do when we crawl to work in the morning and hop away at night.
The Book of the Damned Charles Fort
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They give the quintessence of laboratory experiments as to what are the effects of different energies such as light (heliotropism), electricity (galvanotropism), gravity (geotropism), etc., in their reaction and influence upon the movements and actions of living organisms.
Manhood of Humanity. Alfred Korzybski 1914
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Thus I am now observing something about geotropism, and I had no idea a few weeks ago that this would have been necessary.
More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 Charles Darwin 1845
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