Posted by John Nichols on June 05, 2004 at 17:37:05 from 165.91.196.181 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Mouse or Lash? posted by Jonathan Labaree on June 05, 2004 at 14:39:09:
From the OED - the term mousing?
Brit. /mas/, /maz/, U.S. /mas/, /maz/ [< MOUSE v. + -ING1. In sense 1c, perh. after MOUSE n. 3c.]
I. Simple uses.
1. a. The action of hunting or catching mice.
1692
1680 1709 1871
1856
1856
1831 1997
1964
1680 DRYDEN Kind Keeper III. i. 25 Let the Cat be chang'd into a Lady never so formally, she still retains her natural property of Mousing. 1692 R. L'ESTRANGE Fables lxxxi. 79 An Old Weazle that was now almost past Mousing. 1709 W. KING Useful Trans. in Philos. Mar.-Apr. 43 So, Sir Oliver continues his Pastime of Mousing. 1831 C. A. BOWLES Cat's Tail 15 In..each manly diversionBirding, mousing, and scrambling, no matter how high, Not a cat of his inches with Merlin could vie. 1856 F. E. PAGET Owlet of Owlstone Edge 10 Ever since her accident, my mother finds mousing much more difficult. 1856 F. E. PAGET Owlet of Owlstone Edge 41 For the present I must cease, and go a mousing. 1871 Ladies' Repository 8 65/2 Mousing and ratting is the chief end of a cat. 1964 M. MALTESE (title of film) Much ado about mousing. 1997 Scotsman 17 May 16/6 The cat, from Morningside, came with a middle-class accent, excellent references and..a City and Guild certificate in Intermediate Mousing.
b. U.S. The action of searching or rummaging for something; an instance of this. Now rare.
1875
1870
1870 H. STEVENS Bibliotheca Historica 223 It has been the good fortune of the writer, in his bibliographical mousings up and down the world, to light upon the original paintings. 1875 E. C. STEDMAN Victorian Poets 179 This may be..a result of his mousing among Pre-Chaucerian ballads.
c. U.S. College slang. ‘Necking’, petting. Cf. MOUSE n. 3c.
1942
1941
1941 Life 27 Jan. 79/2 A great proportion of Subdebese has been coined to cover the situations arising out of the mutual urge for association between them and their male friends... Mugging, gooing it, mousing, Hector's pecking,..all of which was once known..as plain necking. 1942 L. V. BERREY & M. VAN DEN BARK Amer. Thes. Slang §355/1 Caressing,..mauling, mousing, mugging, [etc.].
2. a. Naut. The action of putting a collar on a rope or stay to prevent slippage. Now hist.
1832 1972
1832 F. MARRYAT Newton Forster III. viii. 116 He..was better pleased when superintending the mousing of a stay or the strapping of a block. 1972 P. O'BRIAN Post Captain vii. 190 He saw his foot slip as he scrambled in towards the mastthose horses wanted mousing.
b. Chiefly Naut. The action of fastening spun yarn or rope, etc., round the point and shank of a hook, to prevent it from slipping off the hook to which it is attached. Also concr.: the rope or yarn so fastened; a latch which similarly connects the point and the shank of a hook.
1883
a1877
1844 1982
1927
1844 Civil Engineer & Archit. Jrnl. 7 35/1 The two parts of the hook thus formed, when affixed to the rigging, are secured by a cord or ‘mousing’. a1877 E. H. KNIGHT Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1486/1 Mousing,..(Nautical) a lashing or latch connecting the bill with the shank of a hook. 1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys 62 The sheet is fitted in various waysviz., sometimes with clip-hook, or a common hook and mousing, or a screw-hook. 1927 G. BRADFORD Gloss. Sea Terms 117/1 Mousing, a piece of small stuff seized across the hook of a block for the purposes of safety. 1982 P. CLISSOLD Layton's Dict. Naut. Words (rev. ed.) 301 Self-Mousing Hook, hook having a spring mousing that allows easy hooking on, but prevents accidental unhooking.
3. A part similar to a ratchet-wheel in the mechanism of a loom. Obs. rare.
a1877
a1877 E. H. KNIGHT Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1486/1 Mousing, a ratchet movement in a loom.
4. Computing. The action or process of using a mouse to operate a computer.
1999
1994
1985
1985 PC Mag. (Nexis) 14 May 83 PC's editors have just come off an incredible binge of mousing, as we pointed and clicked our way through Top View. 1994 Guardian 25 Aug. II. 20/1 IntelliPoint Home software..provides..practical features designed to make mousing around more fun. 1999 New Yorker 6 Dec. 36/2 A little assiduous mousing around will turn up more than a few arcane sites.
II. Compounds.
5. (In sense 1a) mousing-day, -place; (in sense 2) mousing-arm, -block, hook, -link.
a1884 E. H. KNIGHT Pract. Dict. Mech., Suppl. 619 In the Raines mousing hook a draft upon the hook brings the *mousing-arm in apposition with the point of the hook.
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a1877 E. H. KNIGHT Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1486 A *mousing-block of caoutchouc.
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1727 C. PITT Poems & Transl. 171 All her *Mousing-Days were o'er.
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1860 Sci. Amer. 12 May 317/3 For an Improved *Mousing Hook: I claim, as an improved article of manufacture, a hook, A..as shown. a1877 E. H. KNIGHT Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1486/1 Mousing-hook, a hook secured by a mousing passing around its two branches and closing its mouth, in order to prevent it from straightening out when supporting a heavy weight or to obviate the danger of unshipping. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 45 Samples of Patent Mousing Hook, for all kinds of hooks. 1982 P. CLISSOLD Layton's Dict. Naut. Words (rev. ed.) 229 Mousing Hook, ‘self-mousing hook.’
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a1877 E. H. KNIGHT Pract. Dict. Mech. 1486 A gravitating *mousing-link which throws off from the point when the load on the hook is suddenly lightened.
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1856 F. E. PAGET Owlet of Owlstone Edge 11 Fold-yards, and other good *mousing-places.
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