deer mouse

noun

: any of various mice (genus Peromyscus) of North and Central America
especially : one (P. maniculatus) widely distributed in forests and grasslands of North America

Examples of deer mouse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Rosy boas can eat small mammals, such as kangaroo rats and deer mice, according to Web MD. Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 30 Nov. 2023 The second is the Peromyscus, also known as the deer mouse. Rachel Kurzius, Washington Post, 12 July 2023 Barberry also provides a good place for white-footed deer mice to hide from predators. Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2023 The year after the Institute of Medicine’s report was published, five healthy young people collapsed and died in the Southwestern U.S. from a hantavirus passed to them by deer mice. Maryn McKenna, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2020 Additional cases were soon reported, and the deer mouse was identified as the primary host. Alberto Lucas LÓpez, National Geographic, 17 June 2021 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 The deer mouse makes a simple burrow, just a short tunnel that leads to a nest. Breanna Draxler, Discover Magazine, 18 Jan. 2013 The wide-ranging white-footed mouse, well known among New Yorkers, and very closely related to the deer mouse, was predicted to be susceptible by a computer model that Barbara Han and her colleagues built. Carolyn Kormann, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deer 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

Etymology

from its agility

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of deer mouse was in 1833

Dictionary Entries Near deer mouse

Cite this Entry

“Deer mouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deer%20mouse. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

deer mouse

noun
: any of numerous North American mice of fields and woodlands

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