mouse

American  

[mous, mouz] / 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

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

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

As in the mouse studies, C3 levels in the bloodstream were not linked to treatment success.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

While the peptide’s risks and side effects are few, and its effects on mouse metabolism compelling, no one knows how long-term use affects humans yet, or what formula or dosage would be most effective.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Don’t miss: If Social Security’s funding crisis is the elephant in the room, this is the mouse everyone has overlooked.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

"A non-functional mouse is not just about pausing the timer," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

“If you crossed an elephant with a mouse, would they be friends?”

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Tick populations rely on deer, dogs, mice, and even birds to survive, and pets are often on the front lines of tick infestations.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

A few months ago, Pinchas Cohen learned of a thriving online trade in MOTS-c — a peptide that, when injected into mice, seems to mimic the effects of exercise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Cancer Research UK also warned that, while there was some anti-cancer data from testing fenbendazole using mice, there was no scientific evidence to prove that it worked in people.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Wu next tested how different amounts of dietary arginine affected mice.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

The Great Meadow was overrun by swarms of mice and snakes and frogs.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

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

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

I moused over his photo gallery and started clicking through.

From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2013

Mousing a Hook.—All hooks in running gear should be moused as in Fig.

From Knots, Bends, Splices With tables of strengths of ropes, etc. and wire rigging by Jutsum, J. Netherclift

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

They’re surfaces upon that to put your input devices in order to protect your desktop — or, in my case, to regain a reliable mousing surface after I damaged my desk surface.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2023

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