muricideEtymologyBorrowed from Latin mūricīdus (literally “mouse-killer”). By surface analysis, Latin mūs (“mouse”) + -icide (“killing; killer”).nounMouse-killing (especially in rats).“That Tabby their feathers had frighten’d, / Amusing her jaws with the carnage of mice— / But lately her habits had grown very nice, / And her taste much more enlighten’d. / Could that delicate skin harbour murder within? / Those eyes so mildly winking, / Could they gaze on the pangs of the quiet and meek? / Could that soft velvet head, so pacific and sleek, / On muricide deeds be thinking?”Someone or something that kills mice, rats, or voles.“Muricide, (lat[in]) a mouſe-killer, a cowardly fellow.”