MOUSE
What does "MOUSE" mean?
A small rodent with a pointed snout and long tail, or the handheld device that moves a computer's cursor.
Meanings
- A small, mostly nocturnal rodent of the genus Mus, with a pointed snout and long thin tail. A mouse had been raiding the pantry, leaving crumbs along the shelf.
- A small handheld device moved by hand to control a cursor on a computer screen. He clicked twice with the mouse to open the file. technical
- A timid, quiet, or shy person. She was no mouse - she ran the whole negotiation. figurative
- To hunt for mice, as a cat does. The barn cat earned its keep by mousing through the night.
Did you know?
- The first computer mouse was a hand-carved wooden block with two metal wheels, built by Douglas Engelbart's team and patented in 1970 - they nicknamed it 'mouse' because the cord trailed out like a tail.
- The plural 'mice' isn't a quirky exception invented by English; it survives from an ancient sound-change pattern older than the language itself, which is why no one ever 'decided' it.
Word origin
From Old English 'mus', from Proto-Germanic and ultimately Proto-Indo-European 'mus', a root for the animal that survives across many languages; the computer sense was coined in the 1960s for its tail-like cord.
Remember it
MOUSE has 'OU' in the middle like the squeak 'eou!' it makes - and like the 'ouch' when one runs over your foot.
A little poem
A grey comma slips
under the door at midnight-
the kitchen exhales.
haiku
Wordplay
- My computer mouse and my house mouse have one thing in common: I scream when either one suddenly moves on its own.
What it teaches
Small and quiet is not the same as harmless or weak; the smallest thing in the house often runs it.
Quick facts
What does MOUSE mean?
A small rodent with a pointed snout and long tail, or the handheld device that moves a computer's cursor.
Is MOUSE a valid word?
Yes — MOUSE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is MOUSE?
MOUSE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does MOUSE come from?
From Old English 'mus', from Proto-Germanic and ultimately Proto-Indo-European 'mus', a root for the animal that survives across many languages; the computer sense was coined in the 1960s for its tail-like cord.
What can MOUSE teach us?
Small and quiet is not the same as harmless or weak; the smallest thing in the house often runs it.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.