mouse
noun
\ ˈmau̇s
\
\
plural mice\ ˈmīs
\
\
Definition of mouse
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: any of numerous small rodents (as of the genus Mus) with pointed snout, rather small ears, elongated body, and slender tail
2
: a timid person
4
plural also mouses
: a small mobile manual device that controls movement of the cursor and selection of functions on a computer display
mouse
verb
\ ˈmau̇z
\
\
moused;
mousing
Definition of mouse (Entry 2 of 2)
2
: to search for carefully
—usually used with out
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
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Synonyms for mouse
Synonyms: Verb
lurk, mooch, pussyfoot, shirk, skulk, slide, slink, slip, snake, sneak, steal
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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
The bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, often infects small rodents like rats, mice, and in the most recent incident in Colorado, prairie dogs. — Morgan Krakow, BostonGlobe.com, "Plague-infected prairie dogs prompt shutdown of wildlife refuges in Colorado," 18 Aug. 2019 Lipkin has found similar results in studies of rats and mice in New York City subways and apartment buildings. — Karen Weintraub, Scientific American, "Mind the Staph: London Is Crawling with Antibiotic-Resistant Microbes," 1 Aug. 2019 According to a new study in human cells and mice, exosomes play an important function in brain development. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Biotech Notebook: Treasure from cellular trash; science gets artsy at Symphony at Salk," 26 July 2019 Participating neighborhoods are sprayed with a special tick-killing fungus, or dotted with bait boxes that trap tiny mammals, like white-footed mice, from which ticks acquire the Lyme bacterium. — Micah Hauser, The New Yorker, "Tickbusters on the Lookout for Lyme," 22 July 2019 The Los Angeles Times reports there were pest complaints — rats, mice or fleas — made in 20 different locations within City Hall for a five-month period through February. — Brian Pascus, CBS News, "Los Angeles grapples with homeless camps, illegally dumped trash and rat-infested City Hall," 4 June 2019 The documents also show there were pest complaints — rats, mice or fleas — made at about 20 different locations within City Hall for a five-month period through February. — latimes.com, "Filth from homeless camps is luring rats to L.A. City Hall, report says," 3 June 2019 Clear out wood and brush piles, which are good habitats for rats and mice and may attract coyotes Don't allow pets to roam free when coyotes are present. — Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press, "Small dogs no match for coyotes in metro Detroit, attacks on the rise," 4 June 2018 Now, after the world’s largest rodent extermination effort, scientists have finally declared the island free of rats and mice, Fiona Harvey reports for The Guardian. — Julissa Treviño, Smithsonian, "South Georgia Island Is Officially Free of Its Bird-Killing Rodents," 10 May 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
In 2017, Microsoft began building eye tracking into the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update as an assistive technology for those who were physically unable to mouse. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "These four 'Eyes First' Windows games could do for eye tracking what Solitaire did for the PC's mouse," 19 June 2019 That may tick off some right-handed gamers who don’t like power cords on the same side as their mousing hand, but MSI does at least provide a right-angle plug to make routing less obtrusive. — Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, "MSI GS65 Stealth Thin Review: This thin gaming laptop features 9th-gen Core and GTX 1660 Ti," 6 June 2019 The Settings app has been updated to include the translucency and mouse hot-tracking effects that Fluent brings, for example. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "A look at what the Windows 10 April 2018 update brings," 30 Apr. 2018 Which could explain why the folks at Disney World aren't Mickey-mousing around. — Neil Cavuto, Fox News, "Cavuto: As if we need a storm to remind us Christmas is over," 3 Jan. 2018 Former Disney blogging couple Charity and Matt Craig used the theme park as inspiration for their jewelry business, and are now selling quote bracelets to mouse lovers and beyond. — Kyle Arnold, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Disney-inspired bracelet company uses Instagram to spread message," 20 Apr. 2018 The lab mice would pick up whatever the pet-shop mouse was carrying—everything from fur mites and pinworms to mouse hepatitis—and perhaps become immunologically more like the pet-shop mouse. — Cassandra Willyard, Scientific American, "Squeaky Clean Mice Could be Ruining Research," 9 Apr. 2018 The old, timid lifer mousing through the revolving door has served so many in government for so long that surely the trick will never die. — Kent Sepkowitz, Slate Magazine, "Confessions of a Washington Swamp Creature," 17 Feb. 2017 KeyRocket for Gmail Using keyboard shortcuts is always more efficient than mousing through menus, but many people don’t take the time to learn and memorize them. — Michael Ansaldo, PCWorld, "4 Chrome extensions that make you more productive in Gmail," 4 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mouse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for mouse
mouse
noun
English Language Learners Definition of mouse
: a very small animal that has a pointed nose and a long, thin tail
: a small device that is connected to a computer and that you move with your hand to control the movement of a pointer on the computer screen
See the full definition for mouse in the English Language Learners Dictionary
mouse
noun