gofer

1 of 3

noun (1)

go·​fer ˈgō-fər 

variants or less commonly go-fer or gopher

informal

: an employee whose duties include running errands : lackey

gopher

2 of 3

noun (2)

go·​pher ˈgō-fər 

1

: a burrowing land tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) of the southern U.S.

broadly : any of several related land tortoises

called also gopher tortoise

2

a

: any of a family (Geomyidae) of burrowing rodents of western North America, Central America, and the southern U.S. that are the size of a large rat and have large cheek pouches opening beside the mouth

called also pocket gopher

b

: any of several small ground squirrels (genus Spermophilus) of the prairie region of North America

3

: gopher ball

Illustration of gopher

• gopher 2a

gopher

3 of 3

noun (3)

go·​pher

less common spelling of gofer

informal

: an employee whose duties include running errands : lackey

Examples of gofer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Largely gofer chores or not, Reid saw those jobs as gateways into the league. — Kansas City Star, 22 Apr. 2026

The son of a railway worker, Ortega got his start as a gofer in a shirt store at age 14. — Giacomo Tognini, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2026

Noun

The heron dropped it to jab at it, presumably to kill it for good, then lifted her head up so her bill was pointing skyward, and down the hatch went the whole gopher. — Joan Morris, Mercury News, 20 July 2026

That sounds like a low bar, but the Cubs’ extreme gopher-ball problems (only one of their pitchers with 50+ innings, Ben Brown, has a better-than-average HR rate) could contribute to their demise in October. — Neil Paine, New York Times, 16 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

alteration of go for

Noun (2)

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1938, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing gofer

• gopher ball
• gopher snake
• pocket gopher

Rhymes for gofer

• gopher
• loafer