mouse 
[noun]
[de muis, de mui-zen]
A "muis" is a mouse, both the animal and the computer pointer device. Unlike the plural in English (:mice), the plural in Dutch is regular. The 's' changes into a 'z' though: "muizen".
Examples:
– "Help!! Er zit een muis in de keukenkast."
("Help!! There's a mouse in the kitchen cupboard." Note: "er zit…" is translated with "there is…" (lit.: "there sits…"))
– "Ik kom niet van de tafel voordat je die muis hebt weggejaagd!"
("I won't come off the table before you've chased that mouse away!")
– "Ik heb pijn in mijn onderarm…" – "Misschien moet je een ergodynamische muis gaan gebruiken."
("I have a pain in my lower arm…" – "Maybe you have to start using an ergo-dynamic mouse. ")
Expressions:
– "Als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel": (lit.: if the cat's from home, the mice dance on the table) When the cat's away, the mouse will play / Without supervision, everybody does as he or she pleases.
– "Dit muisje krijgt nog een staartje": (lit.: this little mouse will get a (little) tail) this is not the end of it, this will have consequences. Note that in this expression "muisje" is often omitted: "dit krijgt nog een staartje".
Example:
– "De officier van justitie is een belangrijk dossier tijdens een treinrit kwijtgeraakt." – "Let op mijn woorden: dit muisje krijgt nog een staartje…"
("The district attorney has lost an important file during a ride on the train." – "Mark my words: this will have consequences…")
Related words:
– Knaagdier: rodent [noun] [het knaagdier, de knaagdieren].
– Rat: rat [noun] [de rat, de ratten].
Example:
– "Frank is voor de tweede keer deze maand vreemdgegaan…" – "Hij is een rat…"
("Frank has cheated on his girlfriend for the second time this month…" – "He is a rat…")
– Muizenval: mouse-trap [noun] [de muizenval, de muizenvallen].
– Computeren: to use the computer for recreational purposes [verb] [computeren, computerde, h. gecomputerd].
– Klikken: to click [verb] [klikken, klikte, h. geklikt].
– Toetsenbord: keyboard [noun] [het toetsenbord, de toetsenborden].
“Als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel”
When the cat’s away, the mouse will play, as we say.
An English phrase that caused my Flemish brother-in-law to almost have a hernia from laughter when he told me he had begun an affair with a married woman while her husband was away on business…
@Chris
thnx, I’ve added your translation!
Marc
‘Muis’ also translates in English to ‘thenar (eminence)’. This is the muscle on the palm of the human hand just beneath the thumb.