Lexic.us

Definition of Dormouse

1. Noun. Small furry-tailed squirrel-like Old World rodent that becomes torpid in cold weather.

Definition of Dormouse

1. n. A small European rodent of the genus Myoxus, of several species. They live in trees and feed on nuts, acorns, etc.; -- so called because they are usually torpid in winter.

Definition of Dormouse

1. Noun. Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family ''Gliridae''; also called ''Myoxidae'' or ''Muscardinidae'' by some taxonomists. ¹

2. Noun. (figuratively) A person who sleeps a great deal, or who falls asleep readily (by analogy with the sound hibernation of the dormouse). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Dormouse

1. a small rodent [n -MICE]

Medical Definition of Dormouse

1. Origin: Perh. Fr. F. Dormir to sleep (Prov. E. Dorm to doze) + E. Mouse; or perh. Changed fr. F. Dormeuse, fem, a sleeper, though not found in the sense of a dormouse. A small European rodent of the genus Myoxus, of several species. They live in trees and feed on nuts, acorns, etc.; so called because they are usually torpid in winter. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Dormouse

Literary usage of Dormouse

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Nursery by Fanny P Seaverns, John L. Shorey (Firm (1868)
"My aunt's dormouse is kept in a cage, wired at one end, with a little bedroom ... This dormouse sleeps during the day, and comes out to be fed as soon as it ..."

2. The Poetical Works of Howitt, Milman, and Keats: Complete in One Volume by Mary Botham Howitt, Henry Hart Milman, John Keats (1840)
"THE dormouse. Тик little dormouse is tawny red ; He makes against winter a nice ... And till ihe cold time of the winter is gone, The little dormouse keeps ..."

3. A History of the Earth, and Animated Nature by Oliver Goldsmith (1816)
"The dormouse. These animals may be distinguished into three kinds ; the greater dormouse, which M. Buffon calls the Loir ; the middle, which he calls the ..."

4. Shakespeare Studies, and Essay on English Dictionaries by Thomas Spencer Baynes, Lewis Campbell (1896)
"When, for example, Mr. Wedgwood refers the common English word " dormouse " to a problematical French ''dormeuse," it is impossible not to feel that the ..."

5. Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Robert Armitage Sterndale (1884)
"The common English dormouse is a most charming little animal, and a great pet with ... The dormouse in its wild state lives on fruits, seeds, nuts and buds. ..."

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