gopher

See also: Gopher

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɡəʊfə/
  • (file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɡoʊfɚ/
  • Rhymes: -əʊfə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

Perhaps an adaptation of Cajun French gaufre (literally honeycomb, waffle), based on the analogy of holes in the ground to the indentations in a honeycomb or a waffle (doublet of waffle).[1][2] Alternatively, from Muskogean.[3]

Noun

gopher (plural gophers)

  1. A small burrowing rodent native to North and Central America, especially in the family Geomyidae (true gophers).
    Hyponym: pocket gopher
  2. A ground squirrel (Marmotinae spp.).
  3. A gopher tortoise (Gopherus spp.).
  4. A gopher rockfish (Sebastes carnatus).
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Translations
See also

Noun

gopher (plural gophers)

  1. Alternative spelling of gofer
    • 2015 March 12, Bill Mann, “The film that makes me cry: Local Hero”, in The Guardian:
      Crackpot Texan oil magnate Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster) gets the idea that a small Scottish fishing village would be a marvellous acquisition for his so-rich-it-makes-you-sick company, Knox Oil and Gas, so he sends an executive gopher named MacIntyre (because that sounds Scottish, yeah – played by Peter Riegert) to close the deal and get the pipeline pencilled in.

Further reading

References

  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “gopher”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. gopher”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. gopher”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.