mouse

1 of 2

noun

plural mice ˈmīs How to pronounce mouse (audio)
1
: any of numerous small rodents (as of the genus Mus) with pointed snout, rather small ears, elongated body, and slender tail
2
plural also mouses : a small mobile manual device that controls movement of the cursor and selection of functions on a computer display
3
: a timid person
4
: a dark-colored swelling caused by a blow
specifically : black eye

mouse

2 of 2

verb

moused; mousing

intransitive verb

1
: to hunt for mice
2
: to search or move stealthily or slowly

transitive verb

1
: to search for carefully
usually used with out
2
obsolete
a
: bite, gnaw
b
: to toy with roughly
Phrases
mouse over
computing
: to use a mouse to position a cursor over (a specific location or element on a computer screen) without clicking the mouse's button
Rich media is pretty much anything that moves when you interact with it. It can be a Flash animation, or a streaming video clip, or an image rotator that changes when you mouse over it.Ariel Bleicher

Examples of mouse in a Sentence

Noun The house was infested with mice and rats. He moved the mouse to click on the icon. Verb a cat mousing along in the shadows of the garden
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Although the true cause of the hawk’s situation is uncertain, the center said the bird may have been hunting rodents near an open vat of cooking oil near a restaurant — which can attract rats and mice — and ended up in the oil instead. Makiya Seminera, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024 For years and years, promising findings in rats and mice did not translate into real-world treatments for obesity. Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2024 Laboratory experiments in human and mouse brain organoids designed to emulate changes in the human brain showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers the fusion of brain cells. Ziyad Al-Aly, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2024 Following the human results of the trial, the team observed in mice that THC caused atherosclerosis. Ali Finney, SELF, 26 Feb. 2024 This year's participating actors were Michael Cera, followed by Colman Domingo and Hannah Waddingham, who shared an anecdote about performing in Spamalot with a live mouse in her dress. Lindsay Kimble, Peoplemag, 25 Feb. 2024 Indeed, exposing mice to a light flickering at 40 hertz helped cut down amyloid plaques, a hallmark of the disease, by almost half. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 The mice with the altered TBXT genes were born with a variety of tail effects, including some that were born without tails at all. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024 What emerged was unlike anything on the consumer market: a user-friendly screen of folders and menus and a curious scroll-and-click device dubbed a mouse — first with the commercial-flop Lisa in 1983 and then the groundbreaking Macintosh in 1984. Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
Verb
For now, voters mousing over to rival campaign websites won’t see nearly as many policy positions to contrast with those of the former President. Time, 12 June 2023 Researchers sifted through more than 13,000 potential candidate molecules to find one, called 6bK, that bound to mouse IDE in a test tube. Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 21 May 2014 Anand Agarawala, co-founder and CEO of Spatial, which makes an app where brands and artists can build virtual spaces, said eye-tracking in VR is similar to mouse movements on a desktop, which many companies already collect and use for advertising purposes. Washington Post, 15 July 2021 Multi Control allows users who own a Galaxy Book to use its keyboard, trackpad, or mouse with a Galaxy phone without physically connecting the two devices. Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 15 Feb. 2023 The researchers identified several human and mouse microRNAs that seem to create an unfavorable physiological environment for viruses. Valerie Ross, Discover Magazine, 3 Feb. 2011 Then, a decade ago, Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka identified a cocktail of genes that, when added to mouse skin cells, transformed them into a new kind of cell that grew happily in ever expanding colonies. Kim Smuga-Otto, Discover Magazine, 24 Oct. 2016 The device would then process and transmit neural signals and allow the user to control their keyboard and mouse with their thoughts. Bailey Schulz, USA TODAY, 2 Dec. 2022 To see all the precincts a candidate won, mouse over the candidate's name in the legend. Joseph Flaherty, Arkansas Online, 10 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mouse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English mūs; akin to Old High German mūs mouse, Latin mus, Greek mys mouse, muscle

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mouse was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near mouse

Cite this Entry

“Mouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mouse. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mouse

1 of 2 noun
plural mice ˈmīs How to pronounce mouse (audio)
1
: any of numerous small rodents with pointed snout, rather small ears, and a slender usually nearly hairless tail
2
: a person without spirit or courage
3
: a small hand-operated device used for computer input (as to control cursor movement on the display screen)

mouse

2 of 2 verb
moused; mousing
1
: to hunt mice
2
: to search or move slyly and carefully (as a cat hunting mice)
3
: to search for carefully
mouse out a scandal

Medical Definition

mouse

noun
plural mice ˈmīs How to pronounce mouse (audio)
1
: any of numerous small rodents with pointed snout, rather small ears, elongated body, and slender hairless or sparsely haired tail, including all the smaller members of the genus Mus (as the medically significant house mouse, M. musculus) and many members of other rodent genera and families having little more in common than their relatively small size
2
: a dark-colored swelling caused by a blow
specifically : black eye

More from Merriam-Webster on mouse

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