Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Thigmotaxis

Thigmotaxis , noun

[New Latin, from Greek {not transcribed} touch + {not transcribed} an arranging.]

(Physiology) The property possessed by living protoplasm of contracting, and thus moving, when touched by a solid or fluid substance.

When the movement is away from the touching body, it is negative thigmotaxis; when towards it, positive thigmotaxis.