nyctinasty

British

/ ˈnɪktɪˌnæstɪ /

noun

botany a nastic movement, such as the closing of petals, that occurs in response to the alternation of day and night

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

nyctinastic adjective

Etymology

Origin of nyctinasty

C20: from Greek nukt-, nux night + _-nasty

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

ABC Buffalo reports that Fuller, who correctly spelled the words "nyctinasty" and "tapas" onstage in National Harbor, Maryland, was disqualified from the finals due to her performance on a written test.

From Time

Her word was “nyctinasty,” the movement of plants in response to the onset of darkness.

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023