pocket gopher
- noun
- /ˈpɑːkɪt ˈɡoʊfər/
- US
:
gopher
- As a burrowing rodent, the pocket gopher creates extensive tunnels underground.
Examples
-
"This is different," and then she told him about the dead pocket gopher, and the email she had sent, and how the ranger wanted more information.
Fiction book (2002) -
She had taken pictures of a dead pocket gopher.
Fiction book (2002) -
You have identified the pocket gopher correctly, and your guess is correct.
Fiction book (2002) -
I know it's a pocket gopher, and I know it's dead, but is its stomach supposed to look all puffed out like this?
Fiction book (2002) -
The tiny pocket gopher is providing the first evidence in more than a decade that members of wild populations with little genetic variability can accept skin grafts from each other.
Academic text (1996) -
To test the relationship between genetic variation and immune response in wild populations, Sanjayan and Kevin Crooks compared three pocket gopher populations in California.
Academic text (1996) -
The pocket gopher uses its cheek pouches to carry food back to its burrow.
-
In Central America, the pocket gopher can often be seen digging for roots.
Synonyms
11
6.4
A small animal like a mouse that lives in tunnels and has cheek pouches
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is fully compositional: 'pocket' (a small pouch) modifies 'gopher' (a burrowing rodent), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a gopher characterized by cheek pouches used for carrying food. This noun+noun compounding follows a transparent, cross-linguistically common pattern, so the meaning is directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Pocket gopher gets its name from the animal's large cheek 'pockets' that it uses to carry food back to its underground home. So the name describes a gopher with built-in pockets for food.