![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Audio Help [n. mous; v. mouz] Pronunciation Key noun, plural mice
Audio Help [mahys] Pronunciation Key, verb, moused, mous·ing. | 1. | 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. | Computers. 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. Compare joystick (def. 2). |
| 5. | Informal. a swelling under the eye, caused by a blow or blows; black eye. |
| 6. | Slang. a girl or woman. |
| 7. | to hunt out, as a cat hunts out mice. |
| 8. | Nautical. to secure with a mousing. |
| 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. |
] —Related forms
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
mouse
To learn more about mouse visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| mouse
Audio Help (mous) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. mice (mīs)
intr.v. (mouz) moused, mous·ing, mous·es
[Middle English mous, from Old English mūs; see mūs- in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
mouse
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| 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 swollen bruise caused by a blow to the eye [syn: shiner] |
| 3. | person who is quiet or timid |
| 4. | a hand-operated electronic device that controls the coordinates of a cursor on your computer screen as you move it around on a pad; on the bottom of the device is a ball that rolls on the surface of the pad; "a mouse takes much more room than a trackball" |
verb | |
| 1. | to go stealthily or furtively; "..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house" [syn: sneak] |
| 2. | manipulate the mouse of a computer |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
mouse
see play cat and mouse; poor as a churchmouse; quiet as a mouse. Also see under mice.
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. |
mouse1 [maus] noun — plural mice [mais]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
| mouse
Audio Help (mous) Pronunciation Key
Plural mice (mīs) or mouses A hand-held input device that is moved about on a flat surface to direct the cursor on a computer screen. It also has buttons for activating computer functions. The underside of a mechanical mouse contains a rubber-coated ball that rotates as the mouse is moved; optical sensors detect the motion and move the screen pointer correspondingly. An optical mouse is cordless and uses reflections from an LED to track the mouse's movement over a special reflective mat which is marked with a grid that acts as a frame of reference. |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
mouse
A common device that allows the user to reposition an arrow on their computer screen in order to activate desired applications. The term mouse comes from the appearance of the device, with the cord to the main computer being seen as a tail of sorts.
Note: The user usually sends signals to the computer when the user depresses or “clicks” a switch. A number of slang terms, such as “click on X” or “click and drag” have arisen from the appearance of symbols on a screen when a mouse is used.
[Chapter:] Technology
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Mouse
A mighty small macro language developed by Peter Grogono in 1975.
["Mouse, A Language for Microcomputers", P. Grogono
(1994-10-31)
| The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe |
mouse hardware, graphics
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 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://peripherals.about.com/library/weekly/aa041498.htm).
PC Guide's "Troubleshooting Mice".
(1999-07-21)
| The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe |
Mouse
Mar"mot\, n. [It. marmotta, marmotto, prob. fr. L. mus montanus, or mus montis, lit., mountain mouse or rat. See Mountain, and Mouse.]1. (Zo["o]l.) Any rodent of the genus Arctomys. The common European marmot (A. marmotta) is about the size of a rabbit, and inhabits the higher regions of the Alps and Pyrenees. The bobac is another European species. The common American species (A. monax) is the woodchuck. 2. Any one of several species of ground squirrels or gophers of the genus Spermophilus; also, the prairie dog. Marmot squirrel (Zo["o]l.), a ground squirrel or spermophile. Prairie marmot. See Prairie dog.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Mouse
Mice\, n., pl of Mouse.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Mouse
Mouse\ (mous), n.; pl. Mice (m[imac]s). [OE. mous, mus, AS. m[=u]s, pl. m[=y]s; akin to D. muis, G. maus, OHG. & Icel. m[=u]s, Dan. muus, Sw. mus, Russ. muishe, L. mus, Gr. my^s, Skr. m[=u]sh mouse, mush to steal. [root]277. Cf. Muscle, Musk.]1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of small rodents belonging to the genus Mus and various related genera of the family Murid[ae]. The common house mouse (Mus musculus) is found in nearly all countries. The American white-footed, or deer, mouse (Hesperomys leucopus) sometimes lives in houses. See Dormouse, Meadow mouse, under Meadow, and Harvest mouse, under Harvest. 2. (Naut.) (a) A knob made on a rope with spun yarn or parceling to prevent a running eye from slipping. (b) Same as 2d Mousing, 2. 3. A familiar term of endearment. --Shak. 4. A dark-colored swelling caused by a blow. [Slang] 5. A match used in firing guns or blasting. Field mouse, Flying mouse, etc. See under Field, Flying, etc. Mouse bird (Zo["o]l.), a coly. Mouse deer (Zo["o]l.), a chevrotain, as the kanchil. Mouse galago (Zo["o]l.), a very small West American galago (Galago murinus). In color and size it resembles a mouse. It has a bushy tail like that of a squirrel. Mouse hawk. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A hawk that devours mice. (b) The hawk owl; -- called also mouse owl. Mouse lemur (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of very small lemurs of the genus Chirogaleus, found in Madagascar. Mouse piece (Cookery), the piece of beef cut from the part next below the round or from the lower part of the latter; -- called also mouse buttock.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
MOUSE
MOUSE: in Acronym Finder
| Acronym Finder, © 1988-2007 Mountain Data Systems |
View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web
Share This: 
Perform a new search, or try your search for "mouse" at:
- Amazon.com - Shop for books, music and more
- Reference.com - Encyclopedia Search
- Reference.com - Web Search powered by Google
- Thesaurus.com - Search for synonyms and antonyms
