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house mouse

house mouse

1 2.0
A small brownish-grey animal with a pointed nose and long tail that lives in houses near people
  • noun
  • /haʊs maʊs/
translation icon : ratón de casa
  • Sporadic human LCMV cases occur after contact with infected wild house mice, but the virus has the potential to cause large epidemics when it enters high-density rodent populations, as in the outbreak of this report.
  • outbreaks of house mice
  • wild house mouse
  • common house mouse

Examples

  • The house mouse scurried across the kitchen floor, searching for crumbs left behind by the family.

  • Many people are surprised to learn that the house mouse can reproduce quickly, leading to infestations in homes.

  • So what is a parent to do with their newly timid little house mouse?

    Blog text (34)
  • Gus-Gus, you're a house mouse, not a garden mouse.

  • In house mice, without coevolved predators, outbreaks may be driven by rainfall, food supply, and disease.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Previous seroprevalence studies have associated human LCMV infection with high exposure to the common house mouse (15).

    Academic text (2012)
  • The survival probability of house mice is much higher in the first year of an outbreak than in the second year (Singleton et al. 2000).

    Academic text (2004)
  • However, favorable weather conditions across large regions may still be the most likely explanation for large-scale spatial synchrony in outbreaks of house mice.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Lineage I is usually associated with human disease (as are lineages II and III) and is linked to the common house mouse as its reservoir (14).

    Academic text (2012)
  • The reservoir is the common house mouse, Mus musculus, but other rodents can become infected and transmit infection to humans.

    Academic text (2014)

Synonyms

mouse
vshouse mouse
587 1.0

A small animal with a pointed nose, small ears, and a long tail

refers specifically to a species that lives commonly in human homes
Mus musculus
vshouse mouse
  • Specialized
8.2

A small brown-grey mouse that lives near people and is used in labs

focuses on being a common pest in human dwellings

Surface Forms

house mouse singular
house mice plural

Morphology

house + mouse

The meaning 'a mouse that lives in human dwellings' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'house' (building for people) with 'mouse' (small rodent); the compound denotes a mouse associated with houses. This noun–noun compounding pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard English modifier + head structure, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

House mouse: The name house mouse comes from a simple picture of a mouse living in a house or in stored grain on farms. So the name was used for the small brownish-grey mouse that lives near people, and today house mouse means 'a mouse commonly found in human homes'.