house mouse

American

noun

a brownish-gray Old World mouse, Mus musculus, now common in the U.S. in or near houses.

house mouse British

noun

any of various greyish mice of the Old World genus Mus, esp M. musculus, a common household pest in most parts of the world: family Muridae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of house mouse

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

house mouse

Through comparative analysis, the team showed that similar specialized gene expression patterns are also employed by other animals -- including the house mouse -- during diapause.

From Science Daily ● May 28, 2024

Then there is the house mouse, native to Central Asia.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2023

The species is native to Europe and about the size of a house mouse.

From Science Magazine ● May 9, 2022

Subspecies of the house mouse have diverged to such an extent that when they mix, they often beget sterile males.

From New York Times ● Aug. 14, 2014

Mr. Blanford says this is a house mouse.

From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Robert Armitage Sterndale

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023