mouse

UK: /ˈmaʊs/ US: /n. maʊs; v. maʊz/ ,(n. mous; v. mouz)

Inflections of 'mouse' (n): npl: mice

Inflections of 'mouse' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

mouses

v 3rd person singular

mousing

v pres p

moused

v past

moused

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

mouse /n. maʊs; v. maʊz/   n., pl. mice /maɪs/   v., moused, mous•ing. 

n. [countable]

1. Mammals a small rodent having a long, thin tail.
2. a quiet, timid person:
   "Are you a man or a mouse?'' she yelled.
3. Computing a palm-sized device equipped with one or more buttons, used to point at and select items on a computer display screen and to control the movement of the cursor:
   He used the mouse to move the cursor.

v. [no object]

4. to prowl about, as if in search of something:
   mousing around.
5. to hunt for or catch mice.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

mouse  (n. mous;v. mouz), n., pl. mice (mīs),  v., moused, mous•ing. 

n. 

1. Mammals any of numerous small Old World rodents of the family Muridae, esp. of the genus Mus, introduced widely in other parts of the world.
2. any similar small animal of various rodent and marsupial families.
3. a quiet, timid person.
4. Computing a palm-sized, button-operated device that can be slid on wheels or ball bearings over a desktop to move the cursor on a CRT to any position, or slid over a drawing in order to recreate the drawing on a CRT. Cf. joystick (def. 2).
5. Informal Terms a swelling under the eye, caused by a blow or blows;
   black eye.
6. Slang Terms, Sex and Gender a girl or woman.

v.t. 

7. to hunt out, as a cat hunts out mice.
8. [Naut.] to secure with a mousing.

v.i. 

9. to hunt for or catch mice.
10. to prowl about, as if in search of something:
    The burglar moused about for valuables.
11. to seek or search stealthily or watchfully, as if for prey.

• bef. 900; Middle English mous (plural mis), Old English mūs (plural mȳs); cognate with German Maus, Old Norse mūs, Latin mūs, Greek mŷs

mouse′like′, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mouse noun / maʊs/ ( mice / maɪs/)

1. any of numerous small long-tailed rodents of the families Muridae and Cricetidae that are similar to but smaller than rats
   See also fieldmouse, harvest mouse, house mouse
2. any of various related rodents, such as the jumping mouse
3. a quiet, timid, or cowardly person
4. a handheld device used to control the cursor movement and select computing functions without keying
5. a black eye

verb / maʊz/

1. to stalk and catch (mice)
2. (intransitive) to go about stealthily

Etymology: Old English mūs; compare Old Saxon mūs, German Maus, Old Norse mūs, Latin mūs, Greek mūs

ˈmouseˌlike adjective