mouse — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Any mammal of the many rodent families (especially Muridae) that have a small body and a long tail.

   Usage

   • broadly

   Synonyms

   murinemuridvole

   Broader terms

   muroidmyomorphmyodontrodentmammalvertebrateanimalorganismgnawercrittercreature

   Examples

   Near-synonyms: murine, murid, vole (all parasynonymous with this broad sense)

2. Any mammal of the many rodent families (especially Muridae) that have a small body and a long tail. Such a rodent that is of the genus Mus.

   Usage

   • broadly

   Broader terms

   murinemurid

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.

   A person smeared with the excrement of a mouse was rendered impotent, according to Pliny the Elder.

   More examples (1)

   In molecular biologist David Sinclair’s lab at Harvard Medical School, old mice are growing young again. […] After injecting the virus into the eye, the pluripotent genes were then switched on by feeding the mouse an antibiotic.

3. Any mammal of the many rodent families (especially Muridae) that have a small body and a long tail. A quiet or shy person.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Figurative

   Examples

   She's probably hiding in her room, she always does when we have company. She's our little mouse.

4. Any mammal of the many rodent families (especially Muridae) that have a small body and a long tail. A familiar term of endearment.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Figurative
   • Obsolete

   Examples

   Let the bloat King tempt you again to bed, / Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse

5. An input device that is moved over a pad or other flat surface to produce a corresponding movement of a pointer on a graphical display.

   Examples

   My mouse needs new batteries.

6. An input device that is moved over a pad or other flat surface to produce a corresponding movement of a pointer on a graphical display. An on-screen pointer controlled by a mouse device.

   Usage

   • broadly

   Examples

   Move the mouse over the icon.

7. A facial hematoma or black eye.

8. A turn or lashing of spun yarn or small stuff, or a metallic clasp or fastening, uniting the point and shank of a hook to prevent its unhooking or straightening out.

9. A match used in firing guns or blasting.

10. A small model of (a fragment of) Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory with desirable properties (depending on the context).

11. A small cushion for a woman's hair.

    Usage

    • Historical

12. Part of a hind leg of beef, next to the round.

    Synonyms

    mouse buttock

Verb

1. To move cautiously or furtively, in the manner of a mouse (the rodent) (frequently used in the phrasal verb to mouse around).

   Usage

   • Intransitive

2. To hunt or catch mice (the rodents), usually of cats.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

3. To close the mouth of a hook by a careful binding of marline or wire.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   Captain Higgins moused the hook with a bit of marline to prevent the block beckets from falling out under slack.

4. To navigate by means of a computer mouse.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Examples

   I had just moused to the File menu and the pull-down menu repeated the menu bar's hue a dozen shades lighter.

   More examples (1)

   Unlike the Flamenco work, the Relation Browser allows users to quickly explore a document space using dynamic queries issued by mousing over facet elements in the interface.

5. To tear, as a cat devours a mouse.

   Usage

   • nonce-word
   • Obsolete
   • Transitive

   Examples

   [Death] mousing the flesh of men.

Noun

1. any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails

   Broader terms

   rodentgnawer

2. a swollen bruise caused by a blow to the eye

   Synonyms

   shinerblack eye

   Broader terms

   bruisecontusion

3. person who is quiet or timid

   Broader terms

   personindividualsomeonesomebodymortalsoul

4. a hand-operated electronic device that controls the coordinates of a cursor on your computer screen as you move it around on a pad; on the bottom of the device is a ball that rolls on the surface of the pad

   Synonyms

   computer mouse

   Broader terms

   electronic device

   Examples

   a mouse takes much more room than a trackball

Verb

1. to go stealthily or furtively

   Synonyms

   sneakcreeppussyfoot

   Broader terms

   walk

   Examples

   … stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house

2. manipulate the mouse of a computer

   Broader terms

   manipulate