GOPHER • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Gopher

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/gˈoʊfər/ Listen

noun

Gopher n. (Zool.)

One of several North American burrowing rodents of the genera Geomys and Thomomys, of the family Geomyidae; called also pocket gopher and pouched rat. See Pocket gopher, and Tucan. Note: The name was originally given by French settlers to many burrowing rodents, from their honeycombing the earth.

One of several western American species of the genus Spermophilus, of the family Sciuridae; as, the gray gopher (Spermophilus Franklini) and the striped gopher (S. tridecemlineatus); called also striped prairie squirrel, leopard marmot, and leopard spermophile. See Spermophile.

A large land tortoise (Testudo Carilina) of the Southern United States, which makes extensive burrows.

A large burrowing snake (Spilotes Couperi) of the Southern United States.

Gopher drift (Mining), an irregular prospecting drift, following or seeking the ore without regard to regular grade or section.

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Etymology of 'Gopher'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Gopher" Quotes from Famous Books

... itself a nuisance about the houses where it is as omnivorous an eater as is its far-removed cousin, the house rat. The gopher is one of the mammals whose mark is more often seen than the creature itself. It lives like the mole in underground burrows, coming to the surface only to push up the dirt that it has ...

— The Lake of the Sky • George Wharton James

... she's interested in me romantic past, of course. Ain't I the 'cute little gopher when it comes to the ladies? Fan me, Collie, and slow music and a beer for ...

— Overland Red - A Romance of the Moonstone Canon Trail • Henry Herbert Knibbs

... head and saying he couldn't think what the world was coming to. As near as I could make him, his idea was that the world was going to be swamped with young ones if something wasn't done about it, like using squirrel poison or gopher traps. ...

— Ma Pettengill • Harry Leon Wilson

... Spermophilus, with her high-sounding name, Says just to be called "Gopher" is really a shame, And she's right here to tell you—if this knowledge you should lack— She's the only one who wears the stars and ...

— Animal Children - The Friends of the Forest and the Plain • Edith Brown Kirkwood

... bespeaking deep satisfaction as he saw that there was cold chicken and ham, cheese and buttered bread. Then they ate, Wanda sparingly, pretending to have little appetite, Mr. Dart swiftly and joyously and noisily. And, with his mouth crammed full and his cheeks puffed out gopher-wise, he talked. He demanded her name and her father's business; he wanted to know what she was doing so far from home and if she wasn't afraid; he ascertained that buffaloes were extinct in this part ...

— The Short Cut • Jackson Gregory

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