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Mouse

Definition: Mouse

Mouse

Noun

1. Any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails.

2. A hand-operated electronic device that moves the cursor on a computer screen.

Verb

1. To go stealthily or furtively: "..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house".

2. Manipulate the mouse of a computer.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "mouse" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Mouse

DomainDefinition

Satire

MOUSE, n. An animal which strews its path with fainting women. As in Rome Christians were thrown to the lions, so centuries earlier in Otumwee, the most ancient and famous city of the world, female heretics were thrown to the mice. Jakak-Zotp, the historian, the only Otumwump whose writings have descended to us, says that these martyrs met their death with little dignity and much exertion. He even attempts to exculpate the mice (such is the malice of bigotry) by declaring that the unfortunate women perished, some from exhaustion, some of broken necks from falling over their own feet, and some from lack of restoratives. The mice, he avers, enjoyed the pleasures of the chase with composure. But if "Roman history is nine-tenths lying," we can hardly expect a smaller proportion of that rhetorical figure in the annals of a people capable of so incredible cruelty to a lovely women; for a hard heart has a false tongue. Source: Devil's Dictionary.

Computing

Mouse A mighty small macro language developed by Peter Grogono in 1975. ["Mouse, A Language for Microcomputers", P. Grogono Petrocelli Books, 1983]. (1994-10-31) mouse The most commonly used computer pointing device, first introduced by Douglas Engelbart in 1968. The mouse is a device used to manipulate an on-screen pointer that's normally shaped like an arrow. With the mouse in hand, the computer user can select, move, and change items on the screen. A conventional roller-ball mouse is slid across the surface of the desk, often on a mouse mat. As the mouse moves, a ball set in a depression on the underside of the mouse rolls accordingly. The ball is also in contact with two small shafts set at right angles to each other inside the mouse. The rotating ball turns the shafts, and sensors inside the mouse measure the shafts' rotation. The distance and direction information from the sensors is then transmitted to the computer, usually through a connecting wire - the mouse's "tail". The computer then moves the mouse pointer on the screen to follow the movements of the mouse. This may be done directly by the graphics adaptor, but where it involves the processor the task should be assigned a high priority to avoid any perceptible delay. Some mice are contoured to fit the shape of a person's right hand, and some come in left-handed versions. Other mice are symmetrical. Included on the mouse are usually two or three buttons that the user may press, or click, to initiate various actions such as running programs or opening files. The left-most button (the primary mouse button) is operated with the index finger to select and activate objects represented on the screen. Different operating systems and graphical user interfaces have different conventions for using the other button(s). Typical operations include calling up a context-sensitive menu, modifying the selection, or pasting text. With fewer mouse buttons these require combinations of mouse and keyboard actions. Between its left and right buttons, a mouse may also have a wheel that can be used for scrolling or other special operations defined by the software. Some systems allow the mouse button assignments to be swapped round for left-handed users. Just moving the pointer across the screen with the mouse typically does nothing (though some CAD systems respond to patterns of mouse movement with no buttons pressed). Normally, the pointer is positioned over something on the screen (an icon or a menu item), and the user then clicks a mouse button to actually affect the screen display. The five most common "gestures" performed with the mouse are: point (to place the pointer over an on-screen item), click (to press and release a mouse button), double-click to press and release a mouse button twice in rapid succession, right-click (to press and release the right mouse button, and drag (to hold down the mouse button while moving the mouse). Most modern computers include a mouse as standard equipment. However, some systems, especially portable laptop and notebook models, may have a trackball, touchpad or Trackpoint on or next to the keyboard. These input devices work like the mouse, but take less space and don't need a desk. Many other alternatives to the conventional roller-ball mouse exist. A tailless mouse, or hamster, transmits its information with infrared impulses. A foot-controlled mouse (http://www.footmouse.com/) is one used on the floor underneath the desk. An optical mouse uses a light-emitting diode and photocells instead of a rolling ball to track its position. Some optical designs may require a special mouse mat marked with a grid, others, like the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer, work on nearly any surface. Yahoo! (http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Computers/Hardware/Peripherals/Input_Devices/Mice/). (http://peripherals.about.com/library/weekly/aa041498.htm). PC Guide's "Troubleshooting Mice" (http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/mice.htm). (1999-07-21). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.

19th Century Satire

The frequent cause of a rise in cotton. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904.

Bible

Mouse Heb. 'akhbar, "swift digger"), properly the dormouse, the field-mouse (1 Sam. 6:4). In Lev. 11:29, Isa. 66:17 this word is used generically, and includes the jerboa (Mus jaculus), rat, hamster (Cricetus), which, though declared to be unclean animals, were eaten by the Arabs, and are still eaten by the Bedouins. It is said that no fewer than twenty-three species of this group ('akhbar=Arab. ferah) of animals inhabit Palestine. God "laid waste" the people of Ashdod by the terrible visitation of field-mice, which are like locusts in their destructive effects (1 Sam. 6:4, 11, 18). Herodotus, the Greek historian, accounts for the destruction of the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35) by saying that in the night thousands of mice invaded the camp and gnawed through the bow-strings, quivers, and shields, and thus left the Assyrians helpless. (See SENNACHERIB.). Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary.

Dream Interpretation

For a woman to dream of a mouse, denotes that she will have an enemy who will annoy her by artfulness and treachery. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Literature

Mouse The soul or spirit was often supposed in olden times to assume a zoömorphic form, and to make its way at death through the mouth of man in a visible form, sometimes as a pigeon, sometimes as a mouse or rat. A red mouse indicated a pure soul; a black mouse, a soul blackened by pollution; a pigeon or dove, a saintly soul.
Exorcists used to drive out evil spirits from the human body, and Harsnet gives several instances of such expulsions in his Popular Impositions (1604).
No doubt pigeons were at one time trained to represent the departing soul, and also to represent the Holy Ghost. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.

Meteorology & Standards

A bank of pressure-measuring tubes used to measure pressures in a flow, especially the total pressures, simultaneously at different places near a solid surface. Source: European Union. (references)

Multilingual Slang

Norwegian (mus). (references)

Slang in 1811

MOUSE. To speak like a mouse in a cheese; i.e. faintly or indistinctly. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Computer mouse

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A mouse is a handheld pointing device for computers, involving a small object fitted with several buttons and shaped to sit naturally under the hand. The underside of the mouse houses a device that detects the mouse's motion relative to the flat surface on which it sits. The mouse's motion is typically translated into the motion of a cursor within the plane of the display.

History of mouse engineering

The mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Institute in 1963 after extensive usability testing. The first mouse was bulky, and used two gear wheels perpendicular to each other: the rotation of each wheel was translated into motion along one axis in the plane. Douglas Engelbart received patent US3541541 on November 17, 1970 for a "X-Y Position Indicator For A Display System".

A later variation, invented in the early 1970s by Bill English at Xerox PARC, replaced the external wheels with a single ball which could rotate in any direction. The ball's motion, in turn, was detected using perpendicular wheels housed on the interior of the mouse's body. This variant of the mouse resembled an inverted trackball, and was the predominant form used with personal computers throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

In a separate line of evolution, the optical mouse detected movement using an optical sensor on its underside, paired with a light emitting diode to illuminate the surface. Early optical mice , such as those invented by Steve Kirsch of Mouse Systems Corporation, could only be used on a special metallic surface (mouse pad) imprinted with a grid of fine black lines. As computing power grew cheaper, it became possible to embed more powerful special-purpose image processing chips in the mouse. This advance enabled the mouse to "see" motion on a wide variety of surfaces, eliminating the need for a special mouse pad. This advance paved the way for widespread adoption of optical mice.

In contrast to the motion sensing mechanism, the mouse's buttons have changed little, varying mostly in shape and number. Engelbart's very first mouse had a single button; this was soon increased to three. Commercial mice usually had between one and three buttons, although in the late 1990s some mice sprouted five or more. The only major innovation in mouse buttons was the scroll wheel: a small wheel, with its axis oriented parallel to the mousing surface, that could be rotated "up" or "down" to provide immediate one-dimensional input. Usually, this input was translated into "scrolling" up or down within the currently selected window (see graphical user interface).

Like all input devices, mice need some connection to the host computer in order to transmit their input. Typical mice use a thin electrical cord (e.g., a RS-232 or USB cable) for this purpose. It was most likely the combination of the tail-like cord, size, and shape which led the mouse's inventors to name it as such. Cordless ("tailless") mice use wireless communication (via infra-red or radio) to transmit data.

In 2000, Logitech introduced the tactile mouse, which contained a small effector that made the mouse vibrate. Such a mouse could be used to augment user interfaces with haptic feedback. Other unusual variants have included mice that are held freely in the hand, rather than on a flat surface, and detect six dimensions of motion (the three spatial dimensions, plus rotation on three axes). So far, these mouse exotica have not achieved widespread popularity.

Mice in the marketplace

In the 1970s, Xerox PARC included mice with its Xerox Star. Later, inspired by the Star, Apple Computer released the Apple Lisa, which also used a mouse. However, neither the Star nor the Lisa were commercially successful. Only with the release of the Apple Macintosh in 1984 did the mouse see widespread use.

The Macintosh design was influential, and its success led many other vendors to begin producing mice or including them with their other computer products. The widespread adoption of graphical user interfaces in the 1980s and 1990s made mice indispensable for computer use. By 2000, Dataquest estimated that $1.5 billion worth of mice were sold worldwide every year.

Applications of mice in user interfaces

Usually, the mouse is used to control the motion of a cursor in two dimensions in a graphical user interface. Objects, such as files, programs, or actions, are represented visually by pictures called icons and buttons; the mouse cursor can be used to select or activate such items by moving the cursor over the picture and pressing one of the mouse buttons. For example, a text file might be represented by a picture of a piece of notebook paper, and clicking on this icon might cause a text editing program to open the file in a new window. (See also point and click.)

Mice can also be used gesturally---that is, a stylized motion of the mouse cursor itself can be used as a form of input. In a gestural interface, a particular "gesture" (stylized motion) may be mapped to an action: for example, in a drawing program, moving the mouse in a rapid "x" motion over a shape might delete the shape.

Gestural interfaces are rarer, and often harder to use, than plain pointing and clicking, because they require more fine motor control of the user. However, a few gestural conventions have become widespread, including the drag and drop gesture, in which:

This motion is commonly used to move the item from one location to another---the item is "dragged" from its old location and "dropped" in its new one. For example, a user might drag and drop a picture of a file from a folder onto a picture of a trash can, indicating that the file should be deleted.

Other uses of the mouse's input are common in special application domains. In interactive three-dimensional graphics, the mouse's motion is often directly translated into changes in the virtual camera's orientation. For example, in the Quake computer game, the mouse is usually used to control the direction in which the player's "head" faces: moving the mouse up will cause the player to look up, revealing the view above the player's head.

When mice have more than one button, software may assign different functions to each button. Often, the leftmost button on the mouse will select items, and the rightmost button will bring up a menu of alternative actions applicable to that item. For example, on platforms with more than one button, the Mozilla web browser will follow a link in response to a left button click, and will bring up a menu of alternative actions for that link in response to a right button click.

One button or two?

The issue of whether a mouse should have exactly one button or more than one has attracted a surprising amount of controversy. From the first Macintosh onward, Apple always shipped computers with a single-button mouse, whereas most other platforms used a multiple-button mouse. Apple and its advocates claim that single-button mice are more efficient, and that multiple-button mice are confusing for novice users. The original Macintosh user interface was designed so that all functions were available to a single button mouse.

Advocates of multiple-button mice point out that the lack of additional mouse buttons often leads to clumsy workarounds in interfaces where more than one action may be useful for a given object. These workarounds include the following:

Studies have found all of the above less usable than additional mouse buttons for experienced users. Today, many widely used Apple software packages, including web browsers and graphics editing programs, use one or more of the above workarounds. Critics of single-button mice point to these facts as evidence that mice should have more than one button.

See also

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Mouse

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

For the computer peripheral, see computer mouse.

A mouse (pl. mice) is a small mammal of the order Rodentia.

Any one of numerous species of small rodents belonging to the genus Mus and various related genera of the family Muridæ. The common house mouse (Mus musculus) is found in nearly all countries. The American white-footed mouse (Hesperomys peromyscus), and the deer mouse (Hesperomys leucopus) sometimes live in houses. These species of mice live commensally with humans.

Mice are popular as pets; special varieties of mice, especially albino ones, are also bred as laboratory specimens. However, mice can also be harmful pests, damaging and eating crops and spreading diseases through their parasites and feces. The domestication of cats is thought to have been for their predation of mice and their relatives, the rats.

Famous cartoon mice include: Mickey Mouse, Jerry of Tom and Jerry, Pinky and the Brain, and Itchy of Itchy and Scratchy, a show-within-a-show on The Simpsons. See also List of fictional mice.

External links

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Mouse."

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Abbreviations & Acronyms: Mouse

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField

MOUSE

EnglishMinimum Orbital Unmanned Satellite of EarthTransportation

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Synonyms: Mouse

Synonyms: creep (v), pussyfoot (v), sneak (v), steal (v). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Mouse

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Deception

Snare, trap, pitfall, decoy, gin; springe, springle; noose, hoot; bait, decoy-duck, tub to the whale, baited trap, guet-a-pens; cobweb, net, meshes, toils, mouse trap, birdlime; dionaea, Venus's flytrap; ambush; trapdoor, sliding panel, false bottom; spring-net, spring net, spring gun, mask, masked battery; mine; flytrap; green goods; panel house.

Desire

Adjective: desirous; desiring; Verb: inclined; (willing); partial to; fain, wishful, optative; anxious, wistful, curious; at a loss for, sedulous, solicitous. craving, hungry, sharp-set, peckish, ravening, with an empty stomach, esurient, lickerish, thirsty, athirst, parched with thirst, pinched with hunger, famished, dry, drouthy; hungry as a hunter, hungry as a hawk, hungry as a horse, hungry as a church mouse, hungry as a bear.

Disappointment

Phrase: the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse; parturiunt montes; nascitur ridiculus mus; diis aliter visum, the bubble burst; one's countenance falling.

Excitability

Easy-going, peaceful, placid, calm; quiet as a mouse; tranquil, serene; cool as a cucumber, cool as a custard; undemonstrative.

Inquiry

Seek a clue, seek a clew; hunt, track, trail, mouse, dodge, trace; follow the trail, follow the scent; pursue; beat up one's quarters; fish for; feel for; (experiment).

Littleness

Animalcule, monad, mite, insect, emmet, fly, midge, gnat, shrimp, minnow, worm, maggot, entozoon; bacteria; infusoria; microzoa; phytozoaria; microbe; grub; tomtit, runt, mouse, small fry; millet seed, mustard seed; barleycorn; pebble, grain of sand; molehill, button, bubble.

Poverty

Adjective: poor, indigent; poverty-stricken; badly off, poorly off, ill off; poor as a rat, poor as a church mouse, poor as a Job; fortuneless, dowerless, moneyless, penniless; unportioned, unmoneyed; impecunious; out of money, out of cash, short of money, short of cash; without a rap, not worth a rap;(money); qui n'a pas le sou, out of pocket, hard up; out at elbows, out at heels; seedy, bare-footed; beggarly, beggared; fleeced, stripped; bereft, bereaved; reduced; homeless.

Quiescence

Adjective: quiescent, still; motionless, moveless; fixed; stationary; immotile; at rest at a stand, at a standstill, at anchor; stock, still; standing still; Verb: sedentary, untraveled, stay-at-home; becalmed, stagnant, quiet; unmoved, undisturbed, unruffled; calm, restful; cataleptic; immovable; (stable); sleeping; (inactive); silent; still as a statue, still as a post, still as a mouse, still as death; vegetative, vegetating.

Quiet, tranquility, calm; repose; peace; dead calm, anticyclone; statue-like repose; silence; not a breath of air, not a mouse stirring; sleep; (inactivity).

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Mouse

English words defined with "mouse": Apodemus sylvaticus, Arvicole, AutomaticalBaiomys tayloricactus mouse, Campagnol, Caperclaw, chirk, church mouse, Cotton mouseDeer mouse, Desert mouse, Disney, dragEuropean wood mousefiddling, field mouse, Field vole, fieldmouse, Flying machine, footlinggraphical user interface, grasshopper mouse, GUIharvest mouse, house mousejumping mousekangaroo mouseLilliputian, Liomys irroratus, littleMexican pocket mouse, Mice, Mickey Mouse, Micromyx minutus, Mighty Mouse, Minnie Mouse, mouse button, mouse galago, mouse hawk, Mouse piece, mouse-colored, Moused, mouse-eared bat, Mousehole, Mousekin, mouselike, Mousetail, Mousie, Mousing, mousy, Mus musculusnigglingOpossum mousePeromyscus eremicus, Peromyscus gossypinus, Peromyscus leucopus, Peromyscus maniculatus, Petaurist, petty, picayune, piddling, piffling, Pine mouse, Pouched mouse, pygmy mouserat, ratbite fever, Rice mousescreaky, screechy, squeaking, squeaky, squealingTait, trivialunderpartvesper mouseWalt Disney, Walter Elias Disney, Wandering mouse, White mouse, white-footed mouse. (references)
Specialty definitions using "mouse": Ay mousebeige mousechimeric mousediet induced obese mouse, DIO mouse, drunk mouse syndromelethal yellow mousemind mouse, mouse ahead, mouse around, mouse arrest, mouse belt, mouse droppings, mouse elbow, mouse genome, mouse mat, mouse pad, Mouse Tower, mouse trails, Mouse, MousieNew Zealand obese mouse, nipple mouse, nude mouse, NZO mouseoptical mouseyellow agouti mouse. (references)
Etymologies containing "mouse": Sminthurid. (references)

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Modern Usage: Mouse

DomainUsage

Screenplays

The second mouse fought until he churned the cream into butter and walked out Amen (Catch Me If You Can; writing credit: Frank Abagnale Jr.; Stan Redding)

That's a smart mouse, Del, he's like a circus mouse (The Green Mile; writing credit: Frank Darabont)

What kind of a Mickey Mouse outfit would name their team The Ducks (Space Jam; writing credit: Leonardo Benvenuti; Steve Rudnick)

'cause you're a mouse. (Stuart Little; writing credit: M. Night Shyamalan)

Stop playing cat and mouse with me. If you (And Then There Were None; writing credit: Agatha Christie; Erich Kröhnke)

Lyrics

Just slide your little mouse around (Www.memory; performing artist: Alan Jackson)

He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse. (BIKE; performing artist: Pink Floyd)

I know a mouse, and he hasn't got a house (BIKE; performing artist: Pink Floyd)

Clever

When a mouse laughs at a cat, there's usually a hole nearby. (references; author: Arabian Proverb)

An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications. (references; author: unknown)

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

Big Soft Nelly Mrs. Mouse (1971)

The Mouse Factory (1971)

Mouse On the Mayflower (1968)

Max the 2000-Year-Old Mouse (1967)

That Mouse (1967)

Song Titles

Pepino The Italian Mouse (performing artist: Lou Monte)

Mickey Mouse March (performing artist: Mickey Mouse Club)

The Mouse (performing artist: Soupy Sales)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Mouse

DomainTitle

References

  • Macheezmo Mouse Restaurants, Inc.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

    (more reference examples)

  

Books

  • If You Take A Mouse, A Pig, and Moose Five Book Set: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, If You Give A Mouse a Muffin, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Take a Mouse to School (reference)

  • Minnikin, Midgie and Moppet Mouse Story (reference)

  • More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland (reference)

  • The Adventures of Shay Mouse: The Mouse from Longford (reference)

  • Quimby the Mouse (ACME Novelty Library Series) (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  • Legend of Mouse Hollow/Babysit (reference)

  • Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse - The Complete Series (reference)

  • Manx Mouse (reference)

  • Walt Disney Treasures - Mickey Mouse in Living Color (reference)

  • The Great Mouse Detective (reference)

    (more DVD examples; more video examples)

  

Music

  • Said the Mouse to the Cur (EP) (reference)

  • The Adventures Of The Great Mouse Detective: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK] (reference)

  • Noir: Original Soundtrack (+ Mouse Pad) [IMPORT] [SOUNDTRACK] (reference)

  • Soupy Sez Do the Mouse [IMPORT] (reference)

    (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

  

High Tech

  • Team Mouse Player Backpack Carrying Case Mlb Oakland Athletics (reference)

  • Team Mouse Playerpac Carrying Case Mlb Oakland Athletics (reference)

  • Team Mouse Player Backpack Carrying Case Mlb Atlanta Braves (reference)

  • Tom & Jerry: Mouse Attacks (reference)

  • Oem 10PK PS2 S61 Wheelbtn Mouse Authorized Select with gold Sw (reference)

    (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

  

Consumer Goods

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Mouse

Photos:
Mouse

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Mouse

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Mouse

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Mouse

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Shows photo of lab mouse with cancer tumors. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist.

Using recombinant DNA technology, a transgenic mouse has been engineered whose bone marrow is protected from the toxic effects of chemotherapy by expression of the MDR 1 gene. This animal system allows rapid screening of drugs which inhibit the multidrug transporter and heralds a new era of using transgenic animals for pharmacologic screening. Multidrug resistance resulting from expression of an energy-dependent drug efflux pump encoded by the human MDR gene is a major impediment to effective cancer therapy. Credit: Jeannie Kelly (artist).

Photograph of deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), the major carrier of Sin Nombre virus, which is one of the hantaviruses that causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in humans. Credit: CDC.

Dermis of C57Bl/6 mouse shows Schistosoma mansoni schistosomulum and a diffuse eosinophil-rich inflammatory cell infiltrate 12 hrs post exposure to normal S. mansoni cercariae. Histopathology, parasite. Credit: CDC.

Toxoplasma gondii in mouse ascitic fluid. Smear. Parasite. Credit: CDC.

Histopathology of Acanthamoeba polyphaga infection in mouse brain. Ameba, parasite. Credit: CDC.

Smear of exudate showing spherules of Coccidioides immitis. Experimental infection of mouse with soil sample. Credit: CDC.

3-D image from NOAA Exclusive Economic Zone Mapping Project Mitchell Dome in center of image Very similar to Mickey Mouse appearance Sometimes referred to as "Mickey Mouse Domes". Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve White-footed mouse - Peromyscus leucopus. This mouse is a prey species of owls - especially screech owls and barred owls. Unfortunately, this small rhodent is also an important host in the life cycle of the deer tick and the spread of Lyme disease. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR).

Northern Spotted Owl with a mouse. Credit: D. Huntington.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Mouse
 

"My mouse" by Boris Kukec
Commentary: "This is my mouse."
"Mouse" by David Solodukho
Commentary: "Microsoft Mouse."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Familiar Quotations: Mouse

AuthorQuotation

Aesop

A huge gap appeared in the side of the mountain. At last a tiny mouse came forth.

Arabian Proverb

When a mouse laughs at a cat, there's usually a hole nearby.

Ronald Reagan

Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.

Titus Maccius Plautus

Consider the little mouse, how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts its life to one hole only.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Use in Literature: Mouse

TitleAuthorQuote

Alice in Wonderland

Carroll, Lewis

The Mouse gave a sudden leap out of the water, and seemed to quiver all over with fright

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

He thought himself stronger than he was, and believed he could play mouse with a lion

Time Enough for Love

Robert Heinlein

An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications

Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

A dust settled on the floors, and only mouse and weasel and cat tracks disturbed it.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Mouse

SubjectTopicQuote

Health

You See a Mouse in Your House. (references)

Developing transgenic mouse models for melanoma. (references)

LCMV is naturally spread by the common house mouse, Mus musculus. (references)

Business

Computer casings, microphones, speakers, mouse and other related hardware are imported from Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and other Asian countries. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

HOUSE, n. A hollow edifice erected for the habitation of man, rat, mouse, beelte, cockroach, fly, mosquito, flea, bacillus and microbe. House of Correction, a place of reward for political and personal service, and for the detention of offenders and appropriations. House of God, a building with a steeple and a mortgage on it. House-dog, a pestilent beast kept on domestic premises to insult persons passing by and appal the hardy visitor. House-maid, a youngerly person of the opposing sex employed to be variously disagreeable and ingeniously unclean in the station in which it has pleased God to place her.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Mouse

"Mouse" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.70% of the time. "Mouse" is used about 1,882 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)95.7%1,8014,698
Noun (proper)4.3%8136,835
                    Total100.00%1,882N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Mouse

The following table summarizes the usage of "mouse" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.
NameUsage/GenderUsage per 100
million Persons
Rank in USA
MouseLast name13055,328
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Derived & Related Names: Mouse

The following table summarizes names derived from the word "mouse".
 
NameGenderLanguageMeaning
Beth-gaderN/ABiblical

A house for a mouse

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

 

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Usage in Company Names: Mouse

CountryName
USA

Macheezmo Mouse Restaurants, Inc.

 (more examples...)

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

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Expressions: Mouse

Expressions using "mouse": american harvest mouse Ay mouse baby mouse be as poor as a church mouse beige mouse cactus mouse chimeric mouse church mouse Cotton mouse Deer mouse Desert mouse diet induced obese mouse DIO mouse drunk mouse syndrome european wood mouse field mouse flying mouse grasshopper mouse harvest mouse hazel mouse hispid pocket mouse house mouse hungry as a church mouse jumping mouse kangaroo mouse lethal yellow mouse marsupial mouse meadow jumping mouse meadow mouse mexican pocket mouse Mickey Mouse mickey mouse program mighty Mouse mind mouse Minnie Mouse mouse about mouse ahead mouse around mouse arrest mouse belt mouse bird mouse buttock mouse button mouse car mouse click mouse deer mouse droppings mouse ear mouse ear hawkweed mouse eared chickweed mouse elbow mouse galago mouse genome mouse hare mouse hawk mouse lemur mouse mat mouse nest mouse over mouse owl mouse pad mouse piece mouse sight mouse trails mouse trap new World mouse New Zealand obese mouse nipple mouse not a mouse stirring nude mouse NZO mouse ob mouse obese mouse opossum mouse optical mouse pine mouse plains pocket mouse play cat and mouse with smb. pocket mouse poor as a church mouse pouched mouse pygmy mouse quiet as a mouse rice mouse sable mouse sand mouse sea mouse silky pocket mouse snow mouse Tree mouse vesper mouse wandering mouse water mouse white mouse wood mouse yellow agouti mouse. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "mouse": mouse-alert, mouse-and-icons, mouse-and-windows, mouse-based, mouse-brown, mouse-cell, mouse-colored, mouse-coloured, mouse-controlled, mouse-driven, Mouse-ear, Mouse-ear chickweed, Mouse-ear cress, mouse-ear hawkweed, mouse-eared, mouse-eared bat, mouse-eaten, mouse-faced, mouse-grey, mouse-hole, mouse-human, mouse-in-a-blender, mouse-like, mouse-mats, mouse-operated, mouse-pounce, mouse-related, mouse-sensitive, mouse-sized, mouse-tests, mouse-tooth forceps, mouse-trap, mouse-worth.

Ending with "mouse": anti-mouse.

Containing "mouse": cat-and-mouse-whipped, window-icon-mouse-pop-up.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Mouse

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

mouse

5,274

mouse picture

268

mickey mouse

5,095

mouse house

267

mouse pad

1,304

micky mouse

247

mouse pointer

1,222

mickey mouse wallpaper

238

modest mouse

1,193

free mouse pointer

223

of mouse and man

943

pet mouse

218

mickey mouse picture

832

logitech mouse

201

wireless mouse

682

microsoft mouse

197

computer mouse

673

field mouse

161

minnie mouse

594

free mouse pad

155

mouse driver

496

custom mouse pad

155

mighty mouse

480

ghost mouse

149

mouse the trap

385

mouse control

147

mouse cursor

373

mickey mouse pic

142

mickey mouse club

364

mickey mouse watch

141

optical mouse

358

logitech mouse driver

139

mouse pad maphack

355

ergonomic mouse

133

modest mouse lyrics

317

eek a mouse

133

mickey mouse quot quot

305

after mickey mouse named who

132

mouse trap car

274

mouse icon

129
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Mouse

Language Translations for "mouse"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Afrikaans

  

muis. (various references)

   

Albanian

  

mi (campagnol, mi, rat). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏فأر (rat), ‏إمرأة (baby, dame, sister, woman). (various references)

   

Asturian

  

mure. (various references)

   

Aymara

  

achacu. (various references)

   

Bemba

  

koswe. (various references)

   

Blackfoot

  

kaanaisskiinaa. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

следя (gumshoe, keep an eye on, observe, ride herd on, shadow, stag, tail, track, trail, watch), мишка, ловя мишки, дебна (ambush, be on the lurk, be on the prowl, prowl, shadow, skulk, slink about, sneak, stalk, trail, watch, waylay). (various references)

   

Catalan

  

ratolí. (various references)

   

Cebuano

  

ilaga. (various references)

   

Chamorro

  

cha'ka. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

老鼠 (rat). (various references)

   

Cornish

  

logosen. (various references)

   

Czech

  

myš, bázlivec (coward). (various references)

   

Danish

  

mus (muridal, rats and mice). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

muis (ball, ball of the thumb). (various references)

   

Ecuadorian Quechua

  

ucucha. (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

muso. (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

mús. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

موش گرفتن (Rat), جستجوکردن (Attempt, Comb, Fish, Grub, Look, Quest, Ransack, Scour, Search, Seek, Sick). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

hiiri. (various references)

   

French

  

souris (common mouse, house mouse). (various references)

   

Frisian

  

mûs. (various references)

   

German

  

Maus (mouse [pl: mice]). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

ποντίκι (biceps, mouse (mice)). (various references)

   

Hawaiian

  

mi. (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

עכבר. (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

egér (mice), félénk ember (mice, milquetoast, wimp). (various references)

   

Icelandic

  

mús. (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

mencit, tikus (rat). (various references)

   

Inuktitut

  

avingaq. (various references)

   

Irish

  

luch. (various references)

   

Italian

  

topo (rat), sorcio. (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

(dark gray, rat, slate color), 二十日鼠 , マイコプラズマ肺炎 (at one's own pace, budget reduction, Die Meistersinger, maestro, mild, mild inflation, mile, miler, miles, milestone, mime, mind, mind-control, mine, minor, minor change, Minor League, minor level, minority, minus, mound, mount, mountain, mountain music, mounting, mouse unit, mouth, mouthpiece, movingicon, my pace, mycoplasma pneumonia, negative image, one'shome, one'shouse, personal computer), screwdriverdriver), something that a person is currently obsessed with or fascinated by), 廿日鼠 . (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

マウス (mouth), ねずみ (dark gray, rat, slate color), ねず (dark gray, rat, slate color), はつかねずみ. (various references)

   

Kongo

  

mpuku. (various references)

   

Korean 

  

(mice, rat, RATS). (various references)

   

Lombard

  

ratt. (various references)

   

Macedonian

  

glusec. (various references)

   

Malay

  

tikus. (various references)

   

Manx

  

lugheraght (mousing), lugh, lonnag. (various references)

   

Maori

  

kiore iti. (various references)

   

Maya

  

puukil-cho'. (various references)

   

Mohawk

  

tsinowen. (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

mus. (various references)

   

Occitan

  

murga. (various references)

   

Papago

  

nahagio (earring). (various references)

   

Papiamen

  

raton. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ousemay.(various references)

   

Polish

  

mysz. (various references)

   

Portuguese

  

rato (rat), camundongo. (various references)

   

Provencal

  

mirga. (various references)

   

Romanian

  

puiculiţã, puicã (pullet), prinde şoareci, ochi învineţiţi, boţa, şoricesc, şoricel (mousetail), şoarece de casã, şoarece. (various references)

   

Romansch

  

mieur. (various references)

   

Romany

  

germoosòo. (various references)

   

Ruanda

  

imbeba. (various references)

   

Russian 

  

мышь (deer mouse, mice). (various references)

   

Samoan

  

isumu. (various references)

   

Scottish

  

luch (a mouse). (various references)

   

Sepedi

  

legotlo. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

modrica oko oka (black eye), mišonja, miš, plašljiva osoba (milquetoast), loviti (angle, hunt, hunt for). (various references)

   

Shona

  

mbeva. (various references)

   

Sicilian

  

surci. (various references)

   

Spanish

  

ratón (black-spot grenadier, common vole, field mouse, rat-tail). (various references)

   

Sranan

  

moysmoysi. (various references)

   

Swahili

  

panya mdogo. (various references)

   

Swazi

  

li-gúndvwane. (various references)

   

Swedish

  

mus (puss), råtta (bandicoot, rat), blåtira (shiner). (various references)

   

Thai

  

ติดยาบางอย่าง (ไม่ใช่ยาเสพติด) (mickey mouse habit), ง่ายมาก (Mickey Mouse). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

fare (house mouse, rat). (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

syзan. (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

вишукувати (nose, nose for, poke about, poke around, quarry, rake up), миша, ловити мишей. (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

màu xỉn (mouse-colour), màu xám xịt (mouse-colour), hang chuột (mouse-hole). (various references)

   

Welsh

  

llygoden. (various references)

   

Yucatec

  

ch'o' (rat). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Mouse

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Sumerian3100 BCE-2500 BCE

1. kiib. (various references)

Latin500 BCE-Modern

abramus, murem, mures, muri, muris, murisque, murium, murum, murumque, mus, mus muris, mus, muris, musera. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Bible Trace: Mouse

LanguageDateSourceLeviticus Chapter 11, Verse 29
Greek (transliterated)250 BCSeptuagintKai tauta umin akaqarta apo twn erpetwn twn erpontwn epi thV ghV h galh kai o muV kai o krokodeiloV o cersaioV
Latin405VulgateHoc quoque inter polluta reputabitur de his quae moventur in terra mustela et mus et corcodillus singula iuxta genus suum
Middle English1395WyclifThes forsothe among polutid thinges shulen be holde, of hem that ben meued in erthe; a wesil, and a mouse, and a cokedril, eche after his kynde; `that is a beest of foure feete, hauynge the nether cheke lap vnmeuable, and meuynge the ouere;
Renaissance English1526TyndaleAnd these are also unclene to you amonge the thinges that crepe apon the erth: the wesell the mouse, the tode and all his kynde,
Jacobean English1611King JamesThese also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind,
Victorian English1833WebsterThese also shall be unclean to you among the creeping animals that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise, after its kind,
Basic English1964OgdenAnd these are unclean to you among things which go low down on the earth; the weasel and the mouse and the great lizard, and animals of that sort;

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Matched Bible Translations: Mouse

LanguageLeviticus Chapter 11, Verse 29
CebuanoUg kini sila mao ang mga mahugaw alang kaninyo sa taliwala sa mga mananap nga nagakamang sa yuta nga mokamang sa ibabaw sa yuta: ang milo, ug ang ilaga ug ang halo ingon sa ilang matang,
Croatian"Od životinja što po zemlji gmižu neka su za vas ove neèiste: krtica, miš i svaka vrsta guštera;
DanishAf Krybet, der kryber på Jorden, skal følgende være eder urene: Væselen, Musen, de forskellige Arter af Firben,
DutchVerder zal u dit onder het kruipend gedierte, dat op de aarde kruipt, onrein zijn: het wezeltje, en de muis, en de schildpad, naar haar aard;
FinnishJa nämä olkoot teille saastaiset niistä pikkueläimistä, jotka liikkuvat maassa: myyrä, hiiri ja sisiliskolajit,
FrenchVoici, parmi les animaux qui rampent sur la terre, ceux que vous regarderez comme impurs: la taupe, la souris et le lézard, selon leurs espèces;
GermanDiese sollen euch auch unrein sein unter den Tieren, die auf Erden kriechen: das Wiesel, die Maus, die Kröte, ein jegliches mit seiner Art,
Haitian CreolePami tout bèt toupatou sou latè ki mache sou vant, men sa ki pa bon pou nou manje: tout kalite zagoudi, sourit ak leza,
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hariTikus tanah, tikus besar, tikus kecil, kadal, segala jenis katak, landak, biawak, bengkarung, siput dan bunglon adalah haram.
Indonesian-Terjemahan LamaDan lagi di antara segala binatang kecil yang melata di atas bumi itu, haram kepadamu inilah: binturung dan tikus dan cecak sejenis-jenisnya;
ItalianFra gli animali che strisciano per terra riterrete immondi: la talpa, il topo e ogni specie di sauri,
MaoriKa poke ano hoki enei ki a koutou o nga mea ngokingoki katoa e ngokingoki ana i runga i te whenua; ko te wihara, ko te kiore, me te tuatara, me nga mea e rite ana ki a ia,
NorwegianOg blandt de smådyr som kryper på jorden, skal disse være de ureneste for eder: muldvarpen og musen og alle slags firben,
PortugueseEstes também vos serão por imundos entre os animais que se arrastam sobre a terra: a doninha, o rato, o crocodilo da terra segundo a sua espécie,   
RumanianIatq, din vietqyile cari se tkrqsc pe pqmknt, cele pe cari le veyi privi ca necurate: ckrtiya, woarecele wi wopkrla, dupq soiurile lor;
RussianчПФ ЮФП ОЕЮЙУФП ДМС ЧБУ ЙЪ ЦЙЧПФОЩИ, РТЕУНЩЛБАЭЙИУС РП ЪЕНМЕ: ЛТПФ, НЩЫШ, СЭЕТЙГБ У ЕЕ РПТПДПА,
SwedishOch bland de smådjur som röra sig på jorden skola dessa gälla för eder såsom orena: vesslan, jordråttan, ödlan med dess arter,

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Mouse

Derivations

Words beginning with "mouse": moused, mouser, mousers, mouses, mousetrap, mousetrapped, mousetrapping, mousetraps, mousey. (additional references)

Words ending with "mouse": dormouse, rearmouse, reremouse, titmouse. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Mouse" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: fouse, jouse, kousa, Mabuse, Mapusa, Mause, mauze, meese, Meise, meusien, miese, mobus, Moisan, Moiseev, mokume, mokus, Momus, monse, Moosa, mooseg, mooset, mooshe, moosie, Moruzzi, mose, mosee, mosse, mosso, mouce, mouche, mouen, moues, Mougeot, Moulsey, Moune, mous, Mousavi, Mousawi, mouses, mousie, mouske, mousme, mousr, Moussawi, moussed, Moussel, mousseux, Moussey, moust, moute, mowse, moyse, mpus, mucuse, muise, Muluzi, musea, musee, nouse, Nouste, smouse, wouse. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Mouse"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "mouse" (pronounced mou"s)
2-ou" sblouse, bouse, Crouse, douse, dowse, espouse, Gauss, grouse, house, louse, spouse, youse.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Mouse

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: meous, moues.

Words within the letters "e-m-o-s-u"

-1 letter: emus, meou, moue, muse, some, sumo.

-2 letters: ems, emu, mos, mus, oes, oms, ose, som, sou, sue, sum, use.

-3 letters: em, es, me, mo, mu, oe, om, os, so, um, us.

 Words containing the letters "e-m-o-s-u"
 

+1 letter: mosque, moused, mouser, mouses, mousey, mousse, mucose, odeums, oleums, ugsome.

 

+2 letters: consume, costume, embolus, emulous, fulsome, grumose, gummose, gumshoe, modules, momuses, morgues, mosques, mouches, mousers, mousier, moussed, mousses, mucosae, oestrum, plumose, pumelos, spumone, supremo, timeous, umbones, volumes.

 

+3 letters: albumose, ampoules, autosome, buxomest, coassume, coliseum, columels, communes, commutes, computes, consumed, consumer, consumes, costumed, costumer, costumes, costumey, customer, decorums, demounts, dimerous, dormouse, dukedoms, emulsion, emulsoid, enamours, enormous, eudemons, euonymus, evonymus, eximious, foursome, gourmets, gruesome, gummoses, gumshoed, gumshoes, hamulose, homespun, houseman, housemen, koumises, koumyses, leucomas, leukomas, lummoxes, madhouse, mausolea, medusoid, melanous, misquote, misroute, moisture, monsieur, moresque, moulages, moulders, moulters, mounters, mourners, mousiest, mouthers, mucrones, mudholes, mudstone, mungoose, nelumbos, neuromas, numerous, oestrums, omentums, outbeams, outcomes, outmodes, outmoves, outshame, outsmile, outsmoke, pummelos, racemous, ramulose, remounts, resummon, seamount, smoulder, soundmen, spermous, spumones, squamose, strumose, summoned, summoner, supermom, supremos, tetotums, timeouts, titmouse, tumulose, unsmoked, uptempos, venomous, wamefous.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Images: Digital Art
9. Quotations: Familiar
10. Quotations: Fiction
11. Quotations: Non-fiction
12. Usage Frequency
13. Names: Frequency
14. Names: Derived from
15. Names: Company Usage
16. Expressions
17. Expressions: Internet
18. Translations: Modern
19. Translations: Ancient
20. Bible Trace
21. Abbreviations
22. Acronyms
23. Derivations
24. Rhymes
25. Anagrams
26. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.