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house mouse
noun
: a common nearly cosmopolitan grayish-brown mouse (Mus musculus) that usually lives and breeds about buildings, may act as a vector of diseases, and is an important laboratory animal
Examples of house mouse in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In contrast, similar-sized animals like house mice tend to live for just two years.
—Juergen Eckhardt, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
For the scientists, the choice of the brain of the house mouse (Mus musculus) is obvious: The rodent is the model organism par excellence in biology and medicine.
—Karin Schlott, Scientific American, 18 Dec. 2023
Deer mice tend to be bigger than house mice and have white bellies and brown or tan backs.
—Rachel Kurzius, Washington Post, 12 July 2023
The house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, was one such animal.
—Andrew C. Kitchener, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2015
But only six of these changes were the house mouse’s own innovations.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 21 July 2011
The first evidence of the house mouse (Mus musculus) invading our homes came from teeth recovered from an archaeological site of semi-permanent human structures in the Levant—which were occupied 15,000 years ago.
—Bethany Brookshire, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Dec. 2022
This study set out to uncover potential correlations between baculum shape and reproductive success in the house mouse.
—Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 9 Sep. 2013
After controlling for body size and other reproductive traits, the width (but not length) of the house mouse baculum predicts both the mean number of offspring sired per litter and total number of offspring sired.
—Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 9 Sep. 2013
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'house mouse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
circa 1555, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near house mouse
Cite this Entry
“House mouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/house%20mouse. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
Medical Definition
house mouse
noun
: a mouse that frequents houses
especially
: a common nearly cosmopolitan grayish-brown mouse of the genus Mus (M. musculus) that lives and breeds about buildings, is an important laboratory animal, and is an important pest as a consumer of human food and as a vector of diseases
More from Merriam-Webster on house mouse
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about house mouse
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