mouses

English

Verb

mouses

  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of mouse

Noun

mouses

  1. (see usage notes) plural of mouse (“computer peripheral”)
  2. (nonstandard) plural of mouse (“rodent”)
    • 1957, Dr. Seuss [pseudonym; Theodor Seuss Geisel], How the Grinch Stole Christmas!‎[1], New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN:
      Then / He did the same thing / To the other Whos’ houses / Leaving crumbs / Much too small / For the other Whos’ mouses!
    • 1979, Philip José Farmer, chapter 11, in The Lovers, New York, N.Y.: Del Rey, →ISBN, page 129:
      Fobo chuckled, and he said, in American, “He won’t keep that up long. What does he think we Siddo are? A bunch of mouses?”
    • 2013, Chris Riddell, chapter 7, in Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (Goth Girl), London: Macmillan Children’s Books, published 2014, →ISBN, page 103:
      ‘Lord Goth’s man, he feed me smoky fish and to the girls, dead mouses.’ The Siren’s dark eyes flashed and she spread her golden wings wide. ‘But we are artists – we cannot live like this!’
    • 2017, Jacqueline Kelly, chapter 5, in Who Gives a Hoot? (Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet), New York, N.Y.: Godwin Books, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, page 81:
      “So, uh, could you save me the mice?” / “¿Qué?” / “The mice. The dead mice. From when you empty the traps.” / “You want me to give you the ratón muerto? The dead mouse? This is what you mean?” / “Yes, please. As many as you can.” / He frowned and said, “What for you want the dead mouses?”

Usage notes

The use of mouses when referring to the computer peripheral is controversial. Originally, some usage guides[1] prescribed computer mouses over computer mice (or made no mention of either), on the analogy of using lice for bugs and louses for contemptible persons (thereby using mice for rodents, and mouses for computer peripherals). Nowadays, however, many usage guides[2] (including ones that previously recommended mouses[3]) prefer computer mice over computer mouses. Nevertheless, many dictionaries[4][5][6][7] include computer mouses as an acceptable alternative for computer mice.

The use of mouses when referring to the rodent is always considered non-standard.

Synonyms

References

  1. ^ Bryan A[ndrew] Garner (2003), “mouses”, in Garner’s Modern American Usage, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, Inc., →ISBN.
  2. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AP_Stylebook
  3. ^ Bryan A[ndrew] Garner (2016), “mouses”, in Garner’s Modern English Usage, 4th edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.
  4. ^ “mouses”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  5. ^ “mouses”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
  6. ^ https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/mouse_1
  7. ^ https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mouse

Anagrams

Portuguese

Noun

mouses

  1. plural of mouse

Spanish

Noun

mouses m pl

  1. plural of mouse
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.