mouse 
3. jVnwf., to pass a few turns of a small line 
round the point and shank of (a hook), to keep 
it from unhooking. 
mouse-barley (mous'l>ar"li), n. Hordeum mu- 
riinim, a grass of little value, 
mouse-bird (mous'berd), . Any bird of the 
African genus Colius; one of the colies: so 
called from their color, 
mouse-bur (mous'ber), n. See the quotation, 
and Martynia. 
On our way across the camp we saw a great quantity of 
the seeds of the Martynia proboscidea, mouse-burrs, as they 
call them, devil's claws or toe-nails. 
Lady Brassey, Voyage of Sunbeam, I. vi. 
mouse-buttock (mous'buf'ok), . Same as 
mouse, 7. 
mouse-chop (mous'chop), n. A species of fig- 
marigold, Mesembryanthemiim murinum. 
mouse-color (mous'kul"or), . The gray color 
of a mouse. 
mouse-colored (mous'kul"ord), a. Having the 
gray color of a mouse, or a color somewhat simi- 
lar; dark-gray with a yellowish tinge, the color 
of the common mouse. 
mouse-deer (mous'der), . A chevrotain or 
tragulid: a small deer-like ruminant of the 
family Tragulidce. 
mouse-dun (mous'dun), a. See dun 1 . 
mouse-ear (mous'er), n. 1. A species of hawk- 
weed, Hieracium Pilosella, found throughout 
Europe and northern Asia. It is a low herb with 
tufted radical leaves and leafy barren creepers, its heads 
of lemon-colored flowers borne on leafless scapes. Also 
called mouse-ear hawkweed. 
2. One of various species of scorpion-grass or 
forget-me-not of the genus Myosotis : so called 
in allusion to their short soft leaves. See My- 
osotis. Golden mouse-ear, ffieracium aurantiacmn, 
a European species with golden-red corymbed heads. 
Mouse-ear chickweed. See chiekieeed. Mouse-ear 
cress, Sigymbrium Thaliana. Mouse-ear everlasting, 
a common composite plant of North America, Antenna- 
ria plantayintfoKa, with whitish heads in small corymbs, 
blooming very early in the spring. Also called plantain- 
leafed everlasting. Mouse-ear hawkweed. See def. 1. 
Mouse-ear scorpion-grass, Myosotis palustris. 
mouse-fallt (mous'fal), . [ME. mousfalle, 
mowsefelle, mowsfalle; < mouse + fall.] A 
mouse-trap which falls on the mouse. 
mouse-fish (mous'fish), .. An antennarioid 
fish, Pterophryiie histrio, which is party-colored, 
and chiefly inhabits the Sargasso Sea, where it 
builds a sort of nest. The skin is smooth and pro- 
vided with tag-like appendages, the mouth is oblique, the 
ventral fins are long, and the dorsal and anal fins are well 
developed. Also called marbled angler, frogflsh, and toad- 
fish. See cut under Pterophryne. 
mouse-grass (mous'gras), n. 1. A grass, Aira 
caryophyllca, having short soft leaves. [Local, 
Eng.] 2. Another grass, DicJielaclme crinita, 
of similar habit. [Australia.] 
mouse-hawk (mous'hak), n. The rough-legged 
bustard. See Archibuteo. [New Eng.] 
mouse-hole (mous'hol), . A hole where mice 
enter or pass, or so small that nothing larger 
than a mouse may pass in or out ; a very small 
inlet or outlet. 
If you take us creeping into any of these mouse-holes of 
sin any more, let cats flay off our skins. 
Massinger, Virgin- Martyr, ii. 1. 
mouse-hound (mous'houud),. A weasel. Hal- 
liwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
mouse-hunt (mous'hunt), . 1. A hunting for 
mice. 2f. A mouser; one who watches or pur- 
sues, as a cat does a mouse. 
Aye, you have been a mouse-hunt in your time, 
But I will watch you from such watching now. 
Shak., R. and }., iv. 4. 11. 
Many of those that pretend to be great Babbies in these 
studies have scarce saluted them from the strings, and the 
titlepage, or, to give 'em more, have bin but the Ferrets 
and Moushunte of an Index. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., i. 
mpusekin (mous'kin), . [< mouse + -kin.'] A 
little or young mouse. 
"Frisk about, pretty little mousekin," says gray Orimal- 
W. Thackeray, Virginians, xxxviii. 
mouse-lemur (nious'le"mer), it. A small kind 
of lemur of the genus Chirogaleus, as C. milii 
or C. coquereU. See Galaginiiue, and cut under 
Chirogalcux. 
mouse'-mill (mous'mil), n. See mill. 
mouse-owl (mous'oul), . The short-eared owl, 
Asia brachyotus or accipitrinus. 
mouse-pea (mous'pe), . See Lathyrus. 
mouse-piece (mous'pes), n. Same as mouse, 7. 
mouser (mou'zer), n. An animal that catches 
mice; specifically, a cat: commonly used with 
a qualifying term to describe the proficiency of 
the animal as a mouse-catcher. 
3880 
When you have plenty of fowl in the larder, leave the 
door open, in pity to the poor cat, if she be a good mouser. 
Swift, Advice to Servants, ii. 
Owls, you know, are capital mousers. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 28. 
mouse-roller (mous'ro"ler), n. In printing, an 
inking-roller which jumps up to take ink, and 
then jumps back to put this ink on the inking- 
table. 
mousery (mous'er-i), . ; pi. mouseries (-iz). [< 
mouse -r -ery.] A place where mice abound; 
the breeding-grounds of large numbers of mice 
or voles. 
The disturbance of this populous mousery by the visits 
of owls. F . A. Lucas, The Auk, V. 280. 
mouse-sight (mous'sit),M. Myopia; short-sight- 
edness; near-sightedness. 
mousetail (mous'tal), . A plant of the genus 
Myosurus, especially M. minimus: so named 
from the shape of the elongated fruiting re- 
ceptacle. 
mousetail-grass (mous'tal -gras), . 1. One 
of the foxtail-grasses, Alopecurus ayrestis. 2. 
Another grass, Festitca Myurus. 
mouse-thom (mous'thorn), n. The star-thistle, 
Centaurea calcitrapa, in the form commonly 
known as C. myacantlm. The involucre bears 
long spines. 
mouse-trap (mous'trap), n. [< ME. mowse-trap; 
< mouse + trap 1 .'] 1 . A trap for catching mice. 
2. A certain mathematical problem, itisasfol- 
lows : Let a given number of objects De arranged in a circle 
and counted round and round, and let every one against 
which any multiple of a given number is pronounced be 
thrown out when this happens ; then, which one will be 
left to the last? Mouse-trap switch, in elect., an auto- 
matic switch which is shiftea from one position to an- 
other when the current passing through the coil of a con- 
trolling magnet falls below a certain limit, in which case 
the released armature draws away a detent and allows the 
movement of the switch. 
mouse-trap (mous'trap), v. t. [< mouse-trap, 
n.] To catch, as a mouse, in a trap; entrap. 
mousie (mou'si), n. A diminutive of mouse. 
[Scotch.] 
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane, 
In proving foresight may be vain. 
Burns, To a Mouse. 
mousing (mpu'zing), a. and n. I. a. Mouse- 
catching; given to catching mice. 
A falcon, towering in her pride of place, 
Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd. 
Shak., Macbeth, 11. 4. 13. 
II. . 1. The act of watching for or catching 
mice. 2. Naut., same as mouse, 6. 3. In a 
loom, a ratchet-movement. 
mousing-hook (mou'zing-huk), n. A clasp- 
hook or other form of hook for ropes or harness 
having a latch or mousing-contrivance to lock 
a rope or ring in the hook. 
mousqiietaire (m6s-ke-tar'), H. [F. : see muske- 
teer.] 1. A musketeer. 2f. A turn-over collar, 
usually of plain starched linen, and broad, worn 
by women about 1850. 3. A cloak of cloth, 
trimmed with ribbons or narrow bands of velvet, 
and having large buttons, worn by women about 
1855 Mousquetaire glove, a glove with long loose 
top, and without lengthwise slit, or with a very short open- 
ing at the wrist : so called as resembling a military glove. 
mousseline (mo-se-len'), re. [F., lit. muslin: 
see muslin.] A very thin glass used for claret- 
glasses, etc. 
mousseline-de-laine (mo-se-len'de-lan'), n. 
[F. : mousseline, muslin; de, of ; laine (< L. lana), 
wool: see muslin, de%, lanary.] An untwilled 
woolen cloth made in many colors and printed 
with varied patterns. Also called muslin-de- 
laine. 
mpusseline-glass (mo-se-len'glas), . See m HX- 
lin-glass. 
moustache, n. See mustache. 
mousy (mou'si), a. [< mouse + -y 1 .] 1. Of or 
relating to a mouse or the color or smell of a 
mouse. 2. Abounding with mice. 
mout (mout), r. The earlier, now only dialectal, 
form of molft. 
moutardt, n. [ME. mowtard ; < mouten, mowten, 
molt: see molt?.] Amoltingbird. Prompt. Parv. 
moutert, A Middle English form of molt?. 
mouth (mouth),H. l<ME.mouth,muth,<A8.muth 
= OS. muth = OFries. mund, mond = D. mond 
= MLG. munt, LG. mund = OHG. mund, MHO. 
inn at, Or. mund = Icel. munnr, mudlir = Sw. mun 
Dan. mund (> E. dial, mun) = Goth, muntiis, 
mouth.] 1. The oral opening or ingestive 
aperture of an animal, of whatever character 
and wherever situated; the os, or oral end of 
the alimentary canal or digestive system. The 
mouth is in the head in most animals, and serves for tak- 
ing in food, mastication, deglutition, and the utterance of 
the voice. In nearly all vertebrates the mouth is com- 
mouth 
posed of upper and under jaws and associate parts, and 
consequently opens and shuts vertically ; in many the 
orifice is closed by fleshy movable lips, and the cavity is 
furnished with teeth 
and a tongue. Ap- 
propriate salivary 
and mucous glands 
moisten the interior, 
which is lined with 
epithelium. In most 
invertebrates, as the 
enormous assem- 
blage of arthropods, 
the basis of the 
mouth is clearly seen n 
to be modified limbs, f ~i 
and the jaws work 
sidewise. In other 
cases the mouth, 
though definite in 
position and charac- 
ter in each case, 
varies too widely to 
be defined excepting ,, 
as the ingestive ori- * 
flee. In protozoans 
any part of the body 
may act as a tempo- 
rary mouth ; and in 
many worms there is 
never any mouth or 
special digestive Longitudinal Vertical Section of Mouth, 
System, food being Nose, etc., taken a little to the left of the 
absorbed directlv uiiddle line, a, cervical vertebrae; 6, fful- 
thrniKrh fl.n hitML let or esophagus; c, windpipe or trachea ; 
thlOUgh the mtegu- rf.larynx; <7epiglottis;/;uvula; f.open- 
ment. The most ing ofleft Euslachian tutie ; h, opening of 
complicated mouths left lacrymal duct in the nose; *', hyoid 
are found among in- J> ne : * HOTC; ', hard palate; , , 
c..,.to .,,,.1 ** base of cranial cavity; o, f, q, superior, 
sects and crusta- mid dlc, and inferior turbinate bines. The 
ceans (see cut under pharynx extends from r to s. 
mouth-part). Seeo2, 
stoma, and cuts under medustform, Actinozoa, Haliphy- 
sema, anthozooid, Aurelia, and house-fly. 
Made hem to be vn-armed and waish theire mouthes and 
theire visages with warme water. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), Hi. 545. 
Hys mou'the, hys nose, hys eyn too, 
Hys herd, hys here he ded also. 
Holy Hood (E. E. T. S.), p. 171. 
2. Specifically (a) The human mouth regard- 
ed as the channel of vocal utterance. 
Assoyne . . . excuse sent by the mouth of another for 
non-appearance when summoned. 
Knglish Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 464. 
Now that he is dead, his immortall fame surviveth, and 
flourisheth in the mouthes of all people. 
Spenser, State of Ireland. 
(6) The interior hollow of the mouth ; the buccal 
cavity: as, inflammation of the mouth and throat, 
(c) The exterior opening or orifice of the mouth ; 
the lips: as, a well-formed mouth; & kiss on 
the mouth, (d) In entom., the mouth-parts col- 
lectively; the oral organs or appendages which 
are visible externally: as, the trophi of a man- 
dibulate mouth. 3. Anything resembling a 
mouth in some respect, (o) The opening of any- 
thing hollow, for access to it or for other uses, as the 
opening by which a vessel is filled or emptied, charged 
or discharged ; the opening by which the charge issues 
from a firearm : the entrance to a cave, pit, or den ; the 
opening of a well, etc. ; the opening in a metal -melting fur- 
nace from which the metal flows ; the slot in a carpenters' 
plane in which the bit is fitted ; the surface end of a min- 
ing-shaft or adit ; etc. 
Turn thou the mouth of thy artillery, 
As we will ours, against these saucy walls. 
Shak., K. John, ii. 1. 40S. 
(6) The part of a river or other stream where its waters 
are discharged into the ocean or any large body of water ; 
a conformation of land resembling a river-mouth. 
It [the river Po] disgorgeth itself at length iuto the gulf e 
of Venice, with sixe greate mouths. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 97. 
(c) The opening of a vise between its cheeks, chops, or 
jaws, (d) In fort., the interior opening of an embrasure. 
It may be either rectangular or trapezoidal in form. Some 
military writers call this opening the throat of the embra- 
sure, and apply the term mouth to the exterior opening. 
See embrasure^, (e) In an organ-pipe, the opening in the 
side of the pipe above the foot, between the upper and the 
lower lip. See pipe, (f) In ceram., a name given to one 
of the fireplaces of a pottery-kiln. The kilns for firing the 
biscuit have several of these mouths built against them 
externally, and a flue from each mouth leads the flames 
to a central opening, where they enter the oven, (g) The 
cross-bar of a bridle-bit, uniting the branches or the rings 
as the case may be. 
4. A principal speaker; one who utters the 
common opinion ; an oracle; a mouthpiece. 
Every coffee-house has some particular statesman be- 
longing to it, who is the mouth of the street where he lives. 
Addison, Coffee House Politicians. 
5. Cry; voice. 
The fearful dogs divide. 
All spend their mouths aloft, but none abide. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph. , iv. 108. 
6. Flavor; taste in the mouth: said of beer. 
By mouth, or by word of mouth, by means of spoken 
as distinguished from written language ; by speech ; viva 
voce. 
But did not the apostles teach aught by mouth that they 
wrote not? 
Tyndale, Ans. to SirT. More, etc. (Parker Si*., 1850), p. 26. 
Down In the mouth, dejected; despondent; "blue." 
IColloq.) 
