mouse - See: PLAY CAT AND MOUSE WITH.

mouse - noun
(Science and Technology) A computer peripheral consisting of a small plastic box with a number of buttons and a lead, which may be moved about on a desk or tablet to control the position of the cursor on a monitor, and used to enter commands. Etymology: A metaphorical use of the animal name, arising from the appearance of the computer device, with its compact body and its trailing flex resembling a tail, as well as its effect of making the cursor 'scamper' across the screen. This is the latest in a long line of technical uses of mouse based on physical resemblance to the furry animal : these include a nautical term for a type of knot and a plumber's lead weight on a line. History and Usage: This kind of mouse was invented by English and Engelhardt, computer scientists at Stanford Research Institute in California, and was first named by them in print in 1965. By the seventies the device was produced commercially, but it was only during the eighties that it became widely popularized as WIMPs (see WIMPÜ ) became available to personal computer users. The usage debate has centred on the correct plural form in this sense , with some computer scientists using the regular plural mice, others mouses; mice certainly has the majority. A measure of the popularity of the mouse is the number of compounds it has produced, notably mouse-button (any of the keys on a mouse which allow one to enter commands), and adjectives such as mouse-controlled and mouse-driven. Mouse-driven software has caught the imagination of American hardware designers. Australian Personal Computer Aug. 1983, p.
60 In a world of two- and three-button mice , why did Apple decide on the...one-button mouse? A+ July 1984, p. 35

mouse - n. & v.
--n.

(pl. mice)
1 a any of various small rodents of the family Muridae, esp. of the genus Mus. b any of several similar rodents such as a small shrew or vole.
2 a timid or feeble person.
3 Computing a small hand-held device which controls the cursor on a VDU screen.
4 sl. a black eye.

--v.

intr. also 1 (esp. of a cat, owl, etc.) hunt for or catch mice.
2 (foll. by about) search industriously; prowl about as if searching.

mouse-coloured 1 dark-grey with a yellow tinge.
2 nondescript light brown. mouse deer a chevrotain. mouse hare a pika.

mouselike adj. & adv. mouser n. [OE mus, pl. mys f. Gmc]