pocket gopher

noun

Examples of pocket gopher in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Arizona’s highways funnel rainfall into ditches and thus soften desert soils for pocket gophers, whose tunnels parallel the shoulder like subway lines. Ben Goldfarb, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023 Each is rare and a species of special concern in Minnesota, while many others, like the eastern spotted skunk and northern pocket gopher, are even more threatened. Star Tribune, 29 Oct. 2020 Probably not a pocket gopher — a small, solitary rodent that tunnels through the soil and munches on roots all across North and Central America. Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 11 July 2022 The Western pocket gopher and the mountain beaver both went locally extinct and today, they’re found in much cooler parts of California. Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 23 May 2010 One of them—a tapeworm Gardner fished out of a camas pocket gopher—turned out to be a species new to science. Amy Brady, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2022 But in a paper published on Monday, researchers argue that maybe, just maybe, the southeastern pocket gopher, a small burrowing rodent best known in many communities as a pest, could be considered a rudimentary kind of farmer. New York Times, 11 July 2022 Common ingredients in the tamales made by the Aztecs were rabbit, beans, squash, fruits, honey, turkey eggs, fish, pocket gopher, frog, flamingo and turkey, the website said. Gloria Casas, chicagotribune.com, 23 Dec. 2021 And somewhere, no doubt, a bull snake kept residence in a pocket gopher hole. Bob Timmons, Star Tribune, 31 July 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pocket gopher.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1873, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pocket gopher was in 1873

Dictionary Entries Near pocket gopher

Cite this Entry

“Pocket gopher.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pocket%20gopher. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pocket gopher

noun

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