Gopher

(gō'fər)
n.
A protocol for the storage and retrieval of text on a computer network using a TCP/IP protocol.

[From the gopher mascot of the University of Minnesota, where the protocol was developed.]

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The name for the North American rodents of the family Geomyidae. There are 39 species in 8 genera; 11 species are found in the United States. The distinctive name pocket gopher is applied to these animals, since they have large, furlined cheek pouches which open outward on the side of the face. Two common species are the northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides), a small burrowing species, most numerous in the western United States and Mexico, and the prairie pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius). See also Rodentia.

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