flying mouse
- noun
- Australian
:
ratón volador
- A flying mouse is sometimes kept as an exotic pet due to its cute appearance.
Examples
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The flying mouse can glide from tree to tree using the membrane between its limbs.
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Researchers studied the diet of the flying mouse in its natural habitat.
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It's a tiny flying mouse, not a grizzly bear.
Synonyms
A small Australian animal active at night that glides between trees using skin folds
A small animal that glides and carries its young in a pouch, like a sugar glider
A small night animal with skin flaps that glide between trees
Surface Forms
Morphology
flying + mouse
The compound 'flying mouse' is compositionally transparent: a learner who knows 'flying' (able to fly or glide) and 'mouse' will readily infer it refers to a small animal that flies or glides. Although it denotes a specific species (a sugar glider, a gliding marsupial), that specific reference does not block straightforward derivation from the constituents, so a B1 learner can understand the basic meaning.
Etymology
Flying mouse comes from a simple picture: this small animal has a thin skin flap between its legs that lets it glide, so it looks like a tiny mouse that seems to fly. That's why people put flying and mouse together, because the words show its small size and the way it seems to 'fly' from tree to tree.
