A tree from the wood of which Noah was directed to build the ark (Genesis 6:14). It is mentioned only there. The LXX. render this word by "squared beams," and the Vulgate by "planed wood." Other versions have rendered it "pine" and "cedar;" but the weight of authority is in favour of understanding by it the cypress tree, which grows abundantly in Chaldea and Armenia.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) One of several North American burrowing rodents of the genera Geomys and Thomomys, of the family Geomyidae; -- called also pocket gopher and pouched rat. See Tucan.

2. (n.) One of several western American species of the genus Spermophilus, of the family Sciuridae; as, the gray gopher (Spermophilus Franklini) and the striped gopher (S. tridecemlineatus); -- called also striped prairie squirrel, leopard marmot, and leopard spermophile. See Spermophile.

3. (n.) A large land tortoise (Testudo Carilina) of the Southern United States, which makes extensive burrows.

4. (n.) A large burrowing snake (Spilotes Couperi) of the Southern United States.