1. Informal term, popular in the 1930s and 1940s, for a young woman or girl. Implies a small, very feminine, demure, quiet or timid person who invites being cuddled. Also, one's wife or girlfriend.
QUOTES: The Garbage Man (Allen Jenkins) to the professors in Ball of Fire (1941): 'I could use a bundle of scratch right now on account I met me a mouse last week. What a pair of gams. A little in, a little out, and a little more out.' Also: 'The mouse is the dish. That's what I need the moula for. We'll be stepping me and the smooch... I mean dish... I mean mouse.'