wood mouse
1
4.5
- noun
- /wʊd maʊs/
- UK
:
ratón de campo
- While hiking, we encountered a wood mouse nesting in a small burrow at the base of a tree.
Examples
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The wood mouse is known for its long tail and ability to navigate through dense underbrush.
-
I saw ermines, frolicking squirrels, and wood mice that dragged along all sorts of junk, sometimes even a young fox.
Fiction book (1997) -
In the forest, I spotted a wood mouse scurrying along the ground among the leaves.
Synonyms
587
1.0
A small animal with a pointed nose, small ears, and a long tail
1
7.2
A small brown mouse from North America with a white belly and long tail
1
9.4
A large dark mouse that lives in woods and swamps in the southeastern United States
A small brown mouse that lives in woods and gardens and is active at night
A small brown mouse that is active at night and lives in woods and gardens in Europe
A small brown mouse from North America that often lives in woods and fields
A group of small wild mice called deer mice from North and Central America
A small North American forest mouse with white feet and belly
A small woodland mouse from North America with white feet and a white belly
A small mouse that lives in fields, woods, or gardens and is active at night
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'wood' (wooded area) + 'mouse' yields a mouse that lives in woods, which matches the provided definition. Noun–noun compounds that indicate habitat or type are a common, cross-linguistically transparent pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun wood mouse comes from the simple picture of a little mouse living in the wood: people named it to show it 'lives in the woods' rather than in houses. That's why the name means a small wild mouse found in forests today.