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rheotropism

American  
[ree-o-truh-piz-uhm] / riˈɒ trəˌpɪz əm /

noun

  1. the effect of a current of water upon the direction of plant growth.


rheotropism British  
/ rɪˈɒtrəˌpɪzəm, ˌriːəˈtrɒpɪk /

noun

  1. growth of a plant or sessile animal in the direction of a current of water

"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

  • rheotropic adjective

Etymology

Origin of rheotropism

First recorded in 1885–90; rheo- + -tropism

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.

Several kinds of tropisms are recognized, such as phototropism or heliotropism, reaction to light; thermotropism, reaction to heat; electrotropism or galvanotropism, to electric current; geotropism, to gravity; chemotropism, to a chemical; rheotropism, to current; thigmotropism or stereotropism, to contact; and chromotropism, to color.

From Project Gutenberg

Here, too, must be classed also all the innumerable phenomena of Heliotropism, Geotropism, Rheotropism, Chemotropism, and other tropisms, in which the sun, or the earth, or currents, or chemical stimuli so affect a form of life—plant, alga, or spore—that it disposes its own movements or the arrangements of its parts accordingly, turning towards, or away from, or in an oblique direction to the source of stimulus, or otherwise behaving in some definite manner which could not have been deduced or predicted from the direct effects of the stimulating factors.

From Project Gutenberg