gravitropicadj.
/ˌɡravᵻˈtrəʊpɪk/, U.S. /ˌɡrævəˈtrɑpɪk/ Botany.
Designating the downward or upward growth of the parts of plants in response to the force of gravity; relating to or displaying gravitropism; geotropic.On use with positive and negative (see e.g. quot. 1906), see note at gravitropism n.
ΚΠ
1906 J. C. Bose Plant Response as Means of Physiol. Investig. li. 733 Some confusion is therefore inevitable when one of these responses is designated as positive, and the other as negative... This difficulty might perhaps be overcome by naming the normal responsive movement of the stem as positive phototropic and positive gravitropic, or pro-gravitropic, and that of the root as negative phototropic and negative gravitropic or anti-gravitropic.
1980 Science 5 Sept. 1126 Two inhibitors of ethylene action (silver ion and carbon dioxide) significantly delay the gravitropic response (upward bending) of mature dicot stems laid on their sides.
2009 W. G. Hopkins & N. P. A. Hüner Introd. Plant Physiol. (ed. 4) xxiii. 399/2 The minimum dose required to induce gravitropic curvature is called the threshold dose.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1906