mouse

American  

[maus, mauz] / maʊs, maʊz /

noun

• mice
  plural

1. any of numerous small Old World rodents of the family Muridae, especially of the genus Mus, introduced widely in other parts of the world.

2. any similar small animal of various rodent and marsupial families.

3. a quiet, timid person.

4. Computers. a palm-sized, button-operated pointing device that can be used to move, select, activate, and change items on a computer screen.

5. Informal. a swelling under the eye, caused by a blow or blows; black eye.

6. Slang. a girl or woman.

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verb (used with object)

moused, mousing

1. to hunt out, as a cat hunts out mice.

2. Nautical. to secure with a mousing.

verb (used without object)

moused, mousing

1. to hunt for or catch mice.

2. to prowl about, as if in search of something.

   The burglar moused about for valuables.

3. to seek or search stealthily or watchfully, as if for prey.

4. Computers. to use a mouse to move the cursor on a computer screen to any position.

mouse British  

noun

1. any of numerous small long-tailed rodents of the families Muridae and Cricetidae that are similar to but smaller than rats See also fieldmouse harvest mouse house mouse

2. any of various related rodents, such as the jumping mouse

3. a quiet, timid, or cowardly person

4. computing a hand-held device used to control the cursor movement and select computing functions without keying

5. slang a black eye

6. nautical another word for mousing

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verb

1. to stalk and catch (mice)

2. (intr) to go about stealthily

3. (tr) nautical to secure (a hook) with mousing

mouse Scientific  

/ mous /

1. A hand-held input device that is moved about on a flat surface to direct the cursor on a computer screen. It also has buttons for activating computer functions. The underside of a mechanical mouse contains a rubber-coated ball that rotates as the mouse is moved; optical sensors detect the motion and move the screen pointer correspondingly. An optical mouse is cordless and uses reflections from an LED to track the mouse's movement over a special reflective mat which is marked with a grid that acts as a frame of reference.

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mouse Cultural  

1. A common device that allows the user to reposition an arrow on their computer screen in order to activate desired applications. The term mouse comes from the appearance of the device, with the cord to the main computer being seen as a tail of sorts.

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mouse Idioms  

1. see play cat and mouse; poor as a churchmouse; quiet as a mouse. Also see under mice.

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Discover More

The user usually sends signals to the computer when the user depresses or “clicks” a switch. A number of slang terms, such as “click on X” or “click and drag” have arisen from the appearance of symbols on a screen when a mouse is used.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mouselike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mice
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of mouse

before 900; Middle English mous (plural mis ), Old English mūs (plural mȳs ); cognate with German Maus, Old Norse mūs, Latin mūs, Greek mŷs

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Explanation

A small rodent with a pointy face, rounded ears, and a long tail is called a mouse. A mouse may be kept as a pet, or it may be an uninvited guest in your home. A person who is timid and shy can also be called a mouse. In computer terms, a mouse is a corded or wireless device that moves your computer's cursor while you move the mouse. In most cases, the plural of mouse is "mice," but more than one computer mouse can also be called "mouses." Mouse can also be a verb in this context, like when you mouse over an icon to select a link.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mouse mice moused mousing

The Gruffalo, written by London-born children's author Julia Donaldson, tells the story of a mouse who outsmarts a beast.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Although the findings come from experiments in mice and isolated mouse liver cells, they provide new insight into how hormonal changes and diet may interact to influence liver health.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026

By analyzing human and mouse fat samples, studying cultured fat cells, and conducting experiments in genetically modified mice, the scientists identified another mechanism linking this protein to energy expenditure.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026

They then exposed mouse red blood cells to each type of plastic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Firsthand accounts of history were the bread and butter of the Glitching world, and I was lucky this one wasn’t in someone’s scrawling handwriting or in a crusty old journal that smelled like mouse poop.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

To investigate how inflammation affects fetal development, Cheadle and his colleagues triggered an immune response in pregnant mice at different stages of pregnancy.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

To determine why some developing mice were affected while others appeared protected, Cheadle and Sanchez Martin examined the placenta, the organ that connects a developing fetus to its mother and supports its growth throughout pregnancy.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

Cheadle's team plans to investigate both male and female mice more closely to uncover the mechanisms responsible for these contrasting responses.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

The researchers created a specialized arena in which mice could be virtually "teleported" between environments associated with danger and safety.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

The Duchess and I were two tired mice by the time the Princess rolled out of the palace gates, behind her royal mother, into the sea of flag-waving humans.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

For one, the dock occasionally disappeared when I opened a full-screen Chrome tab in laptop mode, and it didn’t pop up when I moused around the bottom of the screen.

From The Verge ● Aug. 31, 2022

I have moused and clicked through a few, mostly ones I could watch without covering the screen whenever the children walked by.

From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2020

Figuring that black-clad subversives might congregate on the indie boards, I moused over to Pop Genius to check out the state of the conversation around Death Cab For Cutie.

From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2015

Jamie videoed her dance routine and then they ran it in slow motion and moused it into shape, speeding up moves or slowing them down, repositioning legs, arms and head.

From Nature ● Mar. 17, 2015

Barbran hesitated, capitulated, came to the Bonnie Lassie's house, moused about Our Square in a rapt manner and stayed.

From From a Bench in Our Square by Samuel Hopkins Adams

Not especially keen swimmers, they used their mousing skills to secure passage on world-traveling ships piloted by merchants and explorers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

He was moved out of the department's central London building during the Covid pandemic and in 2020 he formally retired from his mousing duties.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2025

Typing and mousing for long periods is stressful for the finger and wrist muscles as well as the forearms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2025

When mousing in snow, the fox's long snout also allows it to reach its prey earlier, as mice are very sensitive to movements in their environment and can quickly escape.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2024

It ain’t nowhere near’s sly nor quick as a cat; it ain’t no good at all at mousing nor catching holt of birds without a lot of help.

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis

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