mouse

A device connected to your computer, used to reposition the cursor or move the pointer on your screen. It is equipped with control buttons, and you move it around on your mouse pad, next to your keyboard. With a mouse, you can highlight text, open menu items, or launch programs, for example.

A wooden prototype of the computer mouse was created by Douglas Engelbart of the Stanford Research Institute in 1963. The first commercially available mouse was made for the IBM-PC in 1982 by Mouse Systems. Mice are now available in serial,  bus and wireless versions, and there is a wide range of styles and colors to choose from.