Biol. [f. Gr. θίγμα touch + τρόπη a turning + -ISM.] The movement of some part of any organism in response to a touch stimulus; the habit of turning towards or away from a foreign body on coming into contact with it. So Thigmotropic a., of, pertaining to, resulting from, or exhibiting thigmotropism.
1900. B. D. Jackson, Gloss. Bot. Terms, 270/2. Thigmotropism, curvature induced in climbing plants by the stimulus of a rough surface.
1908. M. F. Washburn, Animal Mind, iii. § 12. 57.
1909. J. W. Jenkinson, Experim. Embryol., 275. The outgrowth of the ciliated ring into the arms is due to a stimulus—thigmotropic, perhaps,—exerted by the tip of the spicule.
