dormouse

ˈdɔɹ.maʊs

2 definitions

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#1·5h ago

Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family .

For a long time the dormouse and polecat had seemed to him overfeeble enemies for his restless valour, even as the granary floor seemed to afford too narrow a field. Every day he read the papers of the previous day in the servants' hall …

Origin: From , of uncertain origin. Possibly from a dialectal *dor-, from + mouse. More at doze, mouse. The word is sometimes conjectured to come from an derivative of (as tending to be dormant, with second element mistaken for mouse), but no such Anglo-Norman term is known to have existed. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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#2·5h ago

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

For a long time the dormouse and polecat had seemed to him overfeeble enemies for his restless valour, even as the granary floor seemed to afford too narrow a field. Every day he read the papers of the previous day in the servants' hall …

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