释义 |
go·pher I. \ˈgōfə(r)\ noun (-s) Etymology: short for earlier megopher, of unknown origin 1. a. : a burrowing land tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) of the coastal region of the southern United States whose shell attains the length of a foot or more and whose eggs and flesh are used as food b. : any of several related land tortoises 2. a. : any of several burrowing rodents (family Geomyidae) of western No. America, Central America, and the southern United States east to Georgia that are the size of a large rat and have small eyes, short ears, strong claws on the forelimbs, and large cheek pouches opening beside the mouth — called also pocket gopher b. (1) : any of numerous small ground squirrels of the prairie region of No. America that belong to the genus Citellus and are closely related to the chipmunks (2) : any of numerous related animals (as chipmunks, marmots, prairie dogs) 3. : gopher snake 4. also gopher rock cod : any of various rockfishes of the genus Sebastodes 5. usually capitalized : minnesotan — used as a nickname 6. : gopherman 2 II. intransitive verb (-ed/-ing/-s) : to mine haphazardly in irregular holes |