n. A small rodent quadruped, Mus musculus, of the family Muridœ: a name extended to very many of the smaller species of the same family, the larger ones being usually called rats.n. Some animal like or likened to a mouse, as a shrew or bat. See shrcw-mouse.n. A moth of the family Amphipyridœ.n. Some little bird: used in composition: as, sea-mouse and sand-mouse, the dunlin or purre, Tringa alpina, a sandpiper.n. A familiar term of endearment.n. Nautical:n. (a ) A knob formed on a rope by spunyarn or parceling, to prevent a running eye from slipping.n. Two or three turns of spunyarn or rope-yarn about the point and shank of a hook, to keep it from unhooking. Also called mousing.n. A particular piece of beef or mutton below the round; the part immediately above the knee-joint. Also called mouse-piece and mouse-buttock.n. A match used in blasting.n. A swelling caused by a blow; a black eye.To hunt for or catch mice.To watch or pursue something in a sly or insidious manner.To move about softly or cautiously, like a cat hunting mice; prowl.To tear as a cat tears a mouse.To hunt out, as a cat hunts out mice.Nautical, to pass a few turns of a small line round the point and shank of (a hook), to keep it from unhooking.n. A device used in underground pipe-conduits to get cables into the tubes after the latter have been laid.n. Any one of several small marsupials of the genus Phascogale, so called from their strong resemblance to a mouse or rat.