mouse
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Any of many small rodents usually resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mowsIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmaʊs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails
informal
A member of the many small rodent and marsupial species resembling mice, typically having a small body, dark fur, long tail, and nocturnal sleeping pattern.
Any small rodent of the genus Mus.
Person who is quiet or timid
A quiet or shy person.
A match used in firing guns or blasting.
verb
intransitive
To move cautiously or furtively, in the manner of a mouse (the rodent) (frequently used in the phrasal verb to mouse around).
To go stealthily or furtively
intransitive
To hunt or catch mice (the rodents), usually of cats. [from 12th c.]
Manipulate the mouse of a computer
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails
Used this way, mouse is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use mouse
- “A mouse takes much more room than a trackball.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A cat proficient at mousing.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Small short-eared burrowing mammal of rocky uplands of Asia and western North America.
A small portable pad that provides traction for the ball of a computer mouse.
Where mice bear and raise their young.
A type of forceps.
A carnivorous bat with ears like a mouse.
European hawkweed having soft hairy leaves.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A small portable pad that provides traction for the ball of a computer mouse.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.