I. ˈmau̇s noun
( plural mice ˈmīs)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English mous, from Old English mūs; akin to Old High German & Old Norse mūs mouse, Latin mus, Greek mys, Sanskrit mūṣ mouse, and perhaps to Latin movēre to move — more at move
1.
a. : any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats with pointed snout, rather small ears, elongated body, and slender hairless or sparsely haired tail, including all the smaller members of the genus Mus and many members of other rodent genera and families having little more in common than their relatively small size — see harvest mouse , house mouse , jumping mouse , pocket mouse , white-footed mouse
b. : a young muskrat
2.
a. slang : woman , girl friend
in the role of … the rich Chicago mouse — Playbill
the mouse he was shackin' up with — Earle Birney
b. : a timid or diffident person
he might be a lion, but in … public affairs he must remain a mouse — W.H.Hale
c. : something trivial or insignificant
labors over a mountain of the chaff of experience to bring forth a poor mouse of reflection — Edward Sapir
3. : something that resembles a mouse: as
a. archaic : a small lump of muscle meat
b.
(1) archaic : a knot on a ship's stays to prevent a rope from slipping
(2) : mousing
c. : a dark-colored swelling caused by a blow
a heavy right to the cheekbone … raised a mouse — New South Wales Bulletin
specifically : black eye 1a
began the voyage by hanging a mouse on the steward's eye — Time
d. : rat 3
e.
(1) : a small lead weight fastened to a string and used to pull window sash cords into place over pulleys in the jambs of the frame
(2) : a similar weight used by plumbers to clear a stoppage in a pipe
(3) : a loose-fitting plug that is forced through a conduit by compressed air and carries with it wires to be drawn into place
4.
a. : an olive gray — called also beige gray
b. : mouse gray
II. ˈmau̇z, ˈmau̇s verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English mousen, from mous, n.
intransitive verb
1. : to hunt for or catch mice
the large white owl … moused in the long grass — Charlotte Yonge
2.
a. : to poke around or make a curious inspection : explore , snoop
go mousing around libraries … looking for dead facts — Garrett Mattingly
mousing politicians — Telford Taylor
b. : to move stealthily or slowly : creep , saunter
walked eastward, mousing doggedly along on the shady side — John Galsworthy
just mouse along, putting one saddle shoe in front of the other — Peg Bracken
transitive verb
1. obsolete
a. : nibble , gnaw
death … feasts, mousing the flesh of men — Shakespeare
b. : to harass playfully : toy with — used chiefly in the phrase touse and mouse
none but naughty women sat there, whom they toused and moused — William Wycherley
2. : to apply a mousing to (a hook)
3. : to discover by painstaking search — usually used with out
mouse out a neighborhood scandal
III. noun
: a small mobile manual device that controls movement of the cursor and selection of functions on a computer display