mouse

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

mouse
    n 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},
       {black eye}, {mouse}]
    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" [syn: {mouse}, {computer mouse}]
    v 1: to go stealthily or furtively; "..stead of sneaking around
         spying on the neighbor's house" [syn: {sneak}, {mouse},
         {creep}, {pussyfoot}]
    2: manipulate the mouse of a computer

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Mouse \Mouse\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Moused}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Mousing}.]
   1. To watch for and catch mice.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To watch for or pursue anything in a sly manner; to pry
      about, on the lookout for something.
      [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Mouse \Mouse\, v. t.
   1. To tear, as a cat devours a mouse. [Obs.] "[Death] mousing
      the flesh of men." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Naut.) To furnish with a mouse; to secure by means of a
      mousing. See {Mouse}, n., 2.
      [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

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. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of small rodents
      belonging to the genus {Mus} and various related genera of
      the family {Muridae}. The common house mouse ({Mus
      musculus}) is found in nearly all countries. The American
      {white-footed mouse}, or {deer mouse} ({Peromyscus
      leucopus}, formerly {Hesperomys leucopus}) sometimes lives
      in houses. See {Dormouse}, {Meadow mouse}, under {Meadow},
      and {Harvest mouse}, under {Harvest}.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
          [1913 Webster]

   3. A familiar term of endearment. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A dark-colored swelling caused by a blow. [Slang]
      [1913 Webster]

   5. A match used in firing guns or blasting.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Field mouse}, {Flying mouse}, etc. See under {Field},
      {Flying}, etc.

   {Mouse bird} (Zool.), a coly.

   {Mouse deer} (Zool.), a chevrotain, as the kanchil.

   {Mouse galago} (Zool.), 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}. (Zool.)
      (a) A hawk that devours mice.
      (b) The hawk owl; -- called also {mouse owl}.

   {Mouse lemur} (Zool.), 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}.
      [1913 Webster]

from The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906)

MOUSE, n.  An animal which strews its path with fainting women.  As in
Rome Christians were thrown to the lions, so centuries earlier in
Otumwee, the most ancient and famous city of the world, female
heretics were thrown to the mice.  Jakak-Zotp, the historian, the only
Otumwump whose writings have descended to us, says that these martyrs
met their death with little dignity and much exertion.  He even
attempts to exculpate the mice (such is the malice of bigotry) by
declaring that the unfortunate women perished, some from exhaustion,
some of broken necks from falling over their own feet, and some from
lack of restoratives.  The mice, he avers, enjoyed the pleasures of
the chase with composure.  But if "Roman history is nine-tenths
lying," we can hardly expect a smaller proportion of that rhetorical
figure in the annals of a people capable of so incredible cruelty to a
lovely women; for a hard heart has a false tongue.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

mouse
mice

   <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 (http://footmouse.com/) 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://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Computers/Hardware/Peripherals/Input_Devices/Mice/).

   (http://peripherals.about.com/library/weekly/aa041498.htm).

   PC Guide's "Troubleshooting Mice"

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

Mouse

   A mighty small {macro} language developed by Peter Grogono in
   1975.

   ["Mouse, A Language for Microcomputers", P. Grogono
   <[email protected]> Petrocelli Books, 1983].

   (1994-10-31)

from Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Mouse
Heb. 'akhbar, "swift digger"), properly the dormouse, the
field-mouse (1 Sam. 6:4). In Lev. 11:29, Isa. 66:17 this word is
used generically, and includes the jerboa (Mus jaculus), rat,
hamster (Cricetus), which, though declared to be unclean
animals, were eaten by the Arabs, and are still eaten by the
Bedouins. It is said that no fewer than twenty-three species of
this group ('akhbar=Arab. ferah) of animals inhabit Palestine.
God "laid waste" the people of Ashdod by the terrible visitation
of field-mice, which are like locusts in their destructive
effects (1 Sam. 6:4, 11, 18). Herodotus, the Greek historian,
accounts for the destruction of the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings
19:35) by saying that in the night thousands of mice invaded the
camp and gnawed through the bow-strings, quivers, and shields,
and thus left the Assyrians helpless. (See {SENNACHERIB}.)