house mouse
- noun
- /haʊs maʊs/
- 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
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The house mouse scurried across the kitchen floor, searching for crumbs left behind by the family.
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Many people are surprised to learn that the house mouse can reproduce quickly, leading to infestations in homes.
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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.
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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
A small animal with a pointed nose, small ears, and a long tail
A small brown-grey mouse that lives near people and is used in labs
Surface Forms
Morphology
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'.