Illustration of white-footed mouse
white-footed mouse
noun
white-foot·ed mouse
ˈ(h)wīt-ˌfu̇-təd- 
: any of various largely nocturnal mice (genus Peromyscus) of North and Central America typically having whitish feet and underparts
especially
: a common woodland mouse (P. leucopus) of North America
Examples of white-footed mouse in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The natural reservoir for these bacteria are small mammals like the white-footed mouse.
—
Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 6 Oct. 2023
Think owls, foxes, and coyotes, who prey on white-footed mice, a vector for lyme disease that ticks catch when feeding on the mice.
—Benjamin Vogt, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 June 2023
These ticks are about the size of a poppy seed and found on small mammals like the white-footed mice living in the Northeast and upper Midwest.
—Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2023
Ticks the size of poppy seeds pick up the parasites that cause babesiosis by feeding on white-footed mice, according to the TickEncounter Resource Center.
—Laura Crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Mar. 2023
Those parasites are usually carried by ticks, white-footed mice, and other small mammals, according to the CDC.
—Erin Prater, Fortune Well, 16 Mar. 2023
The link: small, acorn-eating rodents, particularly the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), whose populations also shot up during strong acorn years—and whose furry bodies are a great source for the blood that the ticks need in their nymph stage.
—Kat Eschner, Scientific American, 7 July 2022
In this view, distinguishing one Omicron sublineage from another is less like distinguishing a wolf from a cow and more like distinguishing a white-footed mouse from a deer mouse: important to a rodentologist but not really to anyone else.
—Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2023
Acorns are an important food source for the white-footed mouse, a popular target of the ticks that carry the Lyme bacterium.
—Jennifer Barone, Discover Magazine, 8 July 2012
Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 6 Oct. 2023
Think owls, foxes, and coyotes, who prey on white-footed mice, a vector for lyme disease that ticks catch when feeding on the mice.
—Benjamin Vogt, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 June 2023
These ticks are about the size of a poppy seed and found on small mammals like the white-footed mice living in the Northeast and upper Midwest.
—Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2023
Ticks the size of poppy seeds pick up the parasites that cause babesiosis by feeding on white-footed mice, according to the TickEncounter Resource Center.
—Laura Crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Mar. 2023
Those parasites are usually carried by ticks, white-footed mice, and other small mammals, according to the CDC.
—Erin Prater, Fortune Well, 16 Mar. 2023
The link: small, acorn-eating rodents, particularly the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), whose populations also shot up during strong acorn years—and whose furry bodies are a great source for the blood that the ticks need in their nymph stage.
—Kat Eschner, Scientific American, 7 July 2022
In this view, distinguishing one Omicron sublineage from another is less like distinguishing a wolf from a cow and more like distinguishing a white-footed mouse from a deer mouse: important to a rodentologist but not really to anyone else.
—Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2023
Acorns are an important food source for the white-footed mouse, a popular target of the ticks that carry the Lyme bacterium.
—Jennifer Barone, Discover Magazine, 8 July 2012
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'white-footed 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
1827, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of white-footed mouse was
in 1827
Dictionary Entries Near white-footed mouse
Cite this Entry
“White-footed mouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/white-footed%20mouse. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Medical Definition
white-footed mouse
noun
white-foot·ed mouse
ˌ(h)wīt-ˌfu̇t-əd-
: a common woodland mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) that has whitish feet and underparts and that is a reservoir for the spirochete of the genus Borrelia (B. burgdorferi) causing Lyme disease
More from Merriam-Webster on white-footed mouse
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about white-footed mouse
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