gopher1

noun

• 1 (also pocket gopher) a burrowing rodent with fur-lined pouches on the outside of the cheeks, found in North and Central America.

  • Family Geomyidae: several genera and species
• North American term for ground squirrel.

• 2 (also gopher tortoise) a tortoise of dry sandy regions that excavates tunnels as shelter from the sun, native to the southern US.

  • Gopherus polyphemus, family Testudinidae
• [usually as modifier] North American any of a number of burrowing reptiles and amphibians.

• 3 (also Gopher) Computing a menu-based system for Internet searching and document retrieval, largely superseded by the World Wide Web.

  [1990s: named after the gopher mascot of the University of Minnesota, US, where the system was invented]