gopher Hear it!

gopher¹ Definition

☆ go·pher (gō′fər)

noun

  1. any of a family (Geomyidae) of burrowing rodents about the size of a large rat, with wide cheek pouches; pocket gopher
  2. any of a number of striped ground squirrels (genus Citellus) found on the prairies of North America

  3. Etymology: earlier magofer, prob. < AmInd

    a burrowing land tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) found in SE U.S.
  4. Informal a person born or living in Minnesota, called the Gopher State

Etymology: < ? Fr gaufre, honeycomb (see goffer): so called from its habit of burrowing

gopher² Definition

go·pher (gō′fər)

noun

Slang gofer

Gopher Telecom Definition
An early text-based browser developed at the University of Minnesota, where the Golden Gopher is the school mascot. As Gopher is designed to go for information as it tunnels through the Internet to dig for data, the name is a multi-layer pun. Gopher was developed as a user interface to ease access to server resources in educational institutions and quickly became a de facto standard. Gopher servers enable the user to access a directory of Gopher server sites, click the name of the server, browse its file resources on the basis of nested menus, and download files using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Gopher has been obsoleted by the World Wide Web (WWW), although a number of Gopher servers remain in service. See also browser, de facto, FTP, Internet, server, standard, and WWW.
gopher Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • use: To use one, type gopher at the command prompt and hit enter.
  • have: Thus, many universities have gophers that group together information often a particular discipline.
  • include: Sources used include gopher, USENET News, the World Wide Web and various listserves.
  • chase: One day, while I was out chasing gophers, I wandered off too far.

Modifies a noun

  • server: A gopher server allows users to explore the Internet by presenting the user with a series of menus.
  • hole: Jesus pulls his shot right into the trees, where it falls into a gopher hole.
  • menu: Gopher menu entries that end in a ` / ' are gateways to another menu of options.
  • site: Instead of looking through menus, Veronica allows users to enter keywords to locate the gopher site that holds the information they want.
  • wood: God told Noah to " make yourself an ark of gopher wood.
  • system: Gopher systems appear as a list of text items.

Noun used with modifier

  • pocket: Local species at risk include the red kite, Scottish crossbill and, from Mexico, the smokey pocket gopher.
  • law: Establishment of LTC Gopher as the first law gopher in the United Kingdom.