Word of the Day

gopher \GOH-fer\,
verb:
1. Mining. a. to mine unsystematically. b. to enlarge a hole, as in loose soil, with successively larger blasts.
noun:
1. any of several ground squirrels of the genus Citellus, of the prairie regions of North America.
2. pocket gopher.
3. gopher tortoise.
4. gopher snake.
5. (initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of Minnesota (used as a nickname).
6. (initial capital letter) Computers. a. a protocol for a menu-based system of accessing documents on the Internet. b. any program that implements this protocol.

With four flats the Crown Vic sat low enough that she could lie prone and get a view without having to gopher up and make herself a target.
-- Richard Castle, "Heat Rises," 2011

Been prospecting over in the Sunset Range for the last six months with a Peruvian named Enriques—object, a grub-stake to gopher after a treasure-trove in the Andes of Peru.
-- A.D. McMillan, "The Failure of the Bell Exchange," The Black Cat, 1907

Gopher, which entered English in the early 1800s, is believed to have come from the Louisiana French gaufre meaning "honeycomb" or "waffle." The pattern of holes dug by gophers was thought to resemble these forms.

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