gopher
/ˈɡoʊfɚ/noun
gopher is spelled G-O-P-H-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gopher means “A small burrowing rodent native to North and Central America, especially in the family Geomyidae (pocket gophers)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gopher is gophers.
How many letters and syllables are in gopher?
| Letters | 6: G-O-P-H-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gopher?
Gopher appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gopher?
- UK /ˈɡəʊfə/
- US /ˈɡoʊfɚ/
Gopher has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-gopher.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gopher?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gopher from its last stressed vowel (/oʊfəɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gopher
- gophers plural
- gauffre
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gopher mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small burrowing rodent native to North and Central America, especially in the family Geomyidae (pocket gophers).
- 2
A ground squirrel (Marmotinae spp.).
- 3
A gopher tortoise (Gopherus spp.).
- 4
A gopher rockfish (Sebastes carnatus).
- 5
slangA Go programmer.
- 6
Alternative spelling of gofer (“worker who runs errands”).
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of gopher.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gopher in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense small burrowing rodent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | géomys, gaufre, gaufre à poche |
| German | Erdhörnchen, Ziesel, Zieselmaus, Geomyidae) |
| Portuguese | geômis |
| Spanish | geómido, tuza, taltuza, topo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gopher come from?
Perhaps an adaptation of Cajun French gaufre (literally “honeycomb, waffle”), based on the analogy of holes in the ground to the indentations in a honeycomb or a waffle (doublet of waffle). Alternatively, from Muskogean.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).