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mouse
mouse
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
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2006
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© The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information)
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mouse in proverbial use, the mouse is often taken as the type of something small, weak, or insignificant, especially as contrasted with a larger, stronger animal.
A mouse is the emblem of
St Gertrude of Nivelles.
In computing, a mouse is the name given to a small hand-held device which is moved over a flat surface to produce a corresponding movement of a pointer on a VDU screen.
country mouse a person from a rural area unfamiliar with urban life; the allusion is to one of Aesop's fables which contrasts the
country mouse with the urban-dwelling
town mouse. In the fable each mouse visits the other, but is in the end convinced of the superiority of its own home.
mouse and man an alliterative phrase for every living thing; it was probably popularized by Robert Burns in
To a Mouse (1785), ‘The best laid plans o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley.’
a mouse may help a lion proverbial saying, mid 16th century; alluding to Aesop's fable of the lion and the rat, in which a rat saved a lion which had become trapped in a net by gnawing through the cords which bound it.
mouse potato a person who spends large amounts of leisure or working time operating a computer. An alteration of
couch potato, the phrase is one of a cluster of terms which in the 1980s and 1990s developed in reference to an all-absorbing interest in computing.
See also
Cat and Mouse Act at cat,
church mouse, mice,
one for the mouse.
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Of mice and men: mouse maintenance and operation. (Tech Section) (Tutorial)
Magazine article from: Computer Shopper; 4/1/1992; ; 700+ words
; ...delivery of their 10 millionth mouse! Clearly, mice are having a significant...Y position data for the mouse cursor. OPTOMECHANICAL MICE The most common type, optomechanical...data necessary to determine mouse direction. NEW MICE In the last year or so...
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Of mice and mechanicals: the hvac software dilemma.
Magazine article from: Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News; 5/28/1990; ; 700+ words
; ...Furthermore, the cord resembles a mouse's tail. Mice have been around for a number...work with a "Microsoft" mouse or compatible. Since almost all mice produced today are Microsoft...benefit from a cordless mouse. Most mice require a clear area on...
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Mice Are Nice at Most Any Price
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 10/1/1990; ; 700+ words
; ...selection. The Microsoft Mouse was among the first developed...though, nearly all mice can be set to emulate...Still, the Microsoft mouse itself remains a solid...its two buttons. All mice come with software "device...recognize and use the mouse. Most such drivers also...
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MICE CREATED TO SUFFER EFFECTS WILL AID RESEARCH.(FRONT)
Newspaper article from: The Virginian Pilot; 10/4/1996; ; 700+ words
; ...element of the new mouse is that it ``shows...humans.'' He said mice developed in other...the Alzheimer's mouse ``couldn't learn...was. . . . When the mice got older, they swam...older Alzheimer's mice, however, ``forget...Color photo The mouse was ``made'' by...
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Wireless mice could be cat's meow for travelers
Newspaper article from: Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; 4/13/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...in transition: the mouse. But several companies now sell wireless mice designed especially...Group. These $30 mice include a USB receiver...laptop, allowing the mouse to work wirelessly...Wireless Notebook Mouse in orange. To gain...high-end mobile mice, I also looked at...
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Mice Are Key Tool in Quest for New Drugs
News Wire article from: AP Online; 3/4/2006; ; 700+ words
; ...it comes to the price of mice, you pay more for defects. A mouse with arthritis runs close...lab animals, most of them mice. Yet the mouse business is a challenging...made-to-order litter of mouse pups. Mice gained their new significance...
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Mice Could Provide Clues to Autistic Behaviors, Stanford Researcher Says.
Business Wire; 3/12/2008; 700+ words
; ...team found that their mouse model displays two...repetitive actions. The mice also exhibit other...close to the stranger mouse -- sniffing, touching...friends." Not so test mice missing the gabrb3...smaller in the knockout mice. DeLorey thinks it's fascinating that a mouse defective ...
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 "The Dallas Morning News (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)")
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Mice skitter off in new directions.
Newspaper article from: The Dallas Morning News (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service); 8/28/2003; 700+ words
; ...can get rid of the mouse pad, too. Several...manufacturers make optical mice, often standard with...what to look for in a mouse: Optical: Old-fashioned trackball mice are cheap, but the...of a cord or use a mouse away from your desk. Look and feel: Gray mice are passe, so you...
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 "Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)")
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Mice and man: These tiny workhorses of American research have been giants in the battle against human disease.
Newspaper article from: Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA); 1/15/2006; 700+ words
; ...scientific rodent lovers known as mouse fanciers. Mouse fanciers bred varieties of mice, mostly for different coat colors...researchers gained a new interest in the mice. In 1909, the first inbred strain of mouse was developed. Over the next decades...
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Mice skitter off in new directions.(The Dallas Morning News)
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service; 9/3/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...can get rid of the mouse pad, too. Several...manufacturers make optical mice, often standard with...what to look for in a mouse: Optical: Old-fashioned trackball mice are cheap, but the...of a cord or use a mouse away from your desk. Look and feel: Gray mice are passe, so you...
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Mice
Encyclopedia entry from: The Gale Encyclopedia of Science
...and scorpions, on occasion this mouse may even eat other mice. A species of white-footed mouse, the deer mouse ( Peromyscus maniculatus...mice, the wood mice, and spiny mice. The most common Old World mouse is the house mouse ( Mus spp...
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Deer Mouse
Encyclopedia entry from: The Gale Encyclopedia of Science
...color of the deer mouse ranges from grayish...bicolored coat of these mice gives rise to its...in buildings. Deer mice can climb well, and...habitats. The deer mouse is a nocturnal feeder...two years, but deer mice can live for eight...latitude, the deer mouse breeds from February...
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mouse
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...kangaroo rat and Asian jumping mouse. Types of Mice Most, but not all, of...includes the native New World mice, such as the deer mouse, American harvest mouse...carnivorous grasshopper mouse, the South American field mice, the pack rat, and the...
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Mouse
Book article from: Computer Sciences
...no desktop available. A wireless mouse, a mouse without a cord, can also be used...pointing and clicking actions. Wireless mice use infrared or radio signals to...1997. ﾀ The computer mouse gets its name from its resemblance...
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Computer Mouse
Book article from: How Products Are Made
...cursor movements on screen. The mouse began to multiply rapidly...its operating system used a mouse. Other operating systems like...graphical user interfaces and mice. Improvements were added to...on the top, and to make the mouse cordless by using radio-frequency...
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