gopher

Everyday

1. A small North American burrowing animal with large cheek pouches, which digs tunnels and eats plant roots (pocket gopher). tree →
2. (US, Canada) A name also used for ground squirrels. tree →
3. (informal) A person who runs small errands for others («go for» this, «go for» that), also spelled gofer. tree →

In the lessons

In science and nature lessons in the USA and Canada, gophers are burrowing rodents that can damage gardens and crops. The University of Minnesota's team is the Golden Gophers. In computing, the Go programming language has a gopher mascot. Phrases: gopher hole, pocket gopher.

Examples

• A gopher dug tunnels all over the farmer's field. tree →
• Gophers carry food in pouches in their cheeks. tree →
• Watch out for gopher holes when you run on the prairie. tree →
• The film studio hired a gopher to fetch coffee. tree →
• The Go language's mascot is a cute blue gopher. tree →
• In Canada, people call ground squirrels gophers. tree →

Note

Plural: gophers. «ph» sounds like f: GOH-fer. The errand-runner sense is often spelled «gofer». Gophers are not moles: moles eat insects, gophers eat plants.

In Jewish tradition

The Hebrew word gopher is left untranslated and names the wood Noah used for the ark. Nobody is sure which tree it was, and it has nothing to do with the animal.

Interpretation. Commentators have guessed it was cypress, cedar or some resinous wood. Some think the word means a wood that could be pitched and made watertight.

Examples

• Make thee an ark of gopher wood; with rooms shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. (Torah GEN.6.14, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Plural: gophers. «ph» sounds like f: GOH-fer. The errand-runner sense is often spelled «gofer». Gophers are not moles: moles eat insects, gophers eat plants.