go·pher

(gō′fər)

1. Any of various short-tailed, burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae of North America, having fur-lined external cheek pouches. Also called pocket gopher.

2. Any of various ground squirrels of North American prairies.

3. See gopher tortoise.

[Probably short for earlier megopher, gopher tortoise, probably of Muskogean origin; akin to Choctaw kofussa, a hollow, an excavation.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gopher

(ˈɡəʊfə)

1. (Animals) Also called: pocket gopher any burrowing rodent of the family Geomyidae, of North and Central America, having a thickset body, short legs, and cheek pouches

2. (Animals) another name for ground squirrel

3. (Animals) any burrowing tortoise of the genus Gopherus, of SE North America

4. (Animals) gopher snake another name for bull snake

[C19: shortened from earlier megopher or magopher, of obscure origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

go•pher¹

(ˈgoʊ fər)

n.

1. Also called pocket gopher. any New World burrowing rodent of the family Geomyidae, having a stout body, a short tail, and external cheek pouches.

2. ground squirrel.

3. (cap.) a native or inhabitant of Minnesota (used as a nickname).

[1785–95; earlier megopher, magopher a burrowing land tortoise]

go•pher²

(ˈgoʊ fər)

n. Slang.

gofer.

[1925–30; resp. of gofer by association with gopher¹]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	gopher - a zealously energetic person (especially a salesman) goffer busy bee, eager beaver, live wire, sharpie, sharpy - an alert and energetic person
	2.	Gopher - a native or resident of Minnesota Minnesotan American - a native or inhabitant of the United States
	3.	gopher - any of various terrestrial burrowing rodents of Old and New Worlds; often destroy crops spermophile, ground squirrel squirrel - a kind of arboreal rodent having a long bushy tail Citellus, genus Citellus, genus Spermophilus, Spermophilus - typical ground squirrels antelope chipmunk, antelope squirrel, Citellus leucurus, whitetail antelope squirrel - small ground squirrel of western United States Citellus lateralis, mantled ground squirrel - common black-striped reddish-brown ground squirrel of western North America; resembles a large chipmunk Citellus citellus, souslik, suslik - rather large central Eurasian ground squirrel Citellus richardsoni, flickertail, Richardson ground squirrel - of sagebrush and grassland areas of western United States and Canada Citellus variegatus, rock squirrel - large grey ground squirrel of rocky areas of the southwestern United States Arctic ground squirrel, Citellus parryi, parka squirrel - large ground squirrel of the North American far north
	4.	gopher - burrowing rodent of the family Geomyidae having large external cheek pouches; of Central America and southwestern North America pocket gopher, pouched rat pocket rat - any of various rodents with cheek pouches family Geomyidae, Geomyidae - North American pocket gophers Geomys bursarius, plains pocket gopher - gopher of chiefly grasslands of central North America Geomys pinetis, southeastern pocket gopher - gopher of Alabama and Georgia and Florida Thomomys bottae, valley pocket gopher - of valleys and mountain meadows of western United States northern pocket gopher, Thomomys talpoides - greyish to brown gopher of western and central United States
	5.	gopher - burrowing edible land tortoise of southeastern North America gopher tortoise, gopher turtle, Gopherus polypemus tortoise - usually herbivorous land turtles having clawed elephant-like limbs; worldwide in arid area except Australia and Antarctica genus Gopherus, Gopherus - gopher tortoises

Translations

gopher

[ˈgəʊfəʳ] N

1. (Zool) → ardillón m

2. (Comput) → gopher m

3. = gofer

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Gopher

n (Comput) → Gopher m

gopher

n → Taschenratte f; (= squirrel) → Ziesel m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

gopher

[ˈgəʊfəʳ] n → geomio borsario

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"You take the branch next the willow stump, I b'lieve; or else the branch by the gopher holes; or else--"

The first one is by the elm tree, and the second is by the gopher holes; and then--"

"And I saw the gopher holes, too, and the dead stump; but they're not here now.

View in context

And when he was supposed to be working in the corn-fields, and the tall stalks hid him from Mombi's view, Tip would often dig in the gopher holes, or if the mood seized him -- lie upon his back between the rows of corn and take a nap.

View in context

They were content to let the small mine-owners gopher out what they could, for there would be millions in the leavings.

View in context

I set Ah Wee and a little cuss named Gopher to cutting the timber.

View in context

While my grandmother was busy about supper, I settled myself on the wooden bench behind the stove and got acquainted with the cat-- he caught not only rats and mice, but gophers, I was told.

The big yellow and brown ones won't hurt you; they're bull-snakes and help to keep the gophers down.

The gophers scurried up and down the ploughed ground.

View in context

He planted at all seasons, and it was accepted by the community that what did not rot in the ground was evenly divided between the gophers and trespassing cows.

View in context

As the fund manager of these funds, Shanghai Gopher Asset Management has initiated various legal actions and is committed to taking the best course of action to fulfill its obligations and to protect the interests of the investors of these funds.

Noah Holdings provides updates certain credit funds

"The gopher tortoise is a very rare species in South Carolina," says Robert Abernethy, president of The Longleaf Alliance.

A Race for Survival: At the Starting Line

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