Word.ws English Dictionary

built a better mousetrap

built a better mousetrap is the simple past and past participle of build a better mousetrap.

Meaning of build a better mousetrap

Verb

build a better mousetrap (third-person singular simple present builds a better mousetrap, present participle building a better mousetrap, simple past and past participle built a better mousetrap)

  1. (idiomatic) To create a new product, method, or idea that is better than an existing version of something already common or widely used.
    • Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door. misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson

Questions about built a better mousetrap

What is built a better mousetrap the simple past and past participle of?
Built a better mousetrap is the simple past and past participle of build a better mousetrap.

Words near built a better mousetrap in the dictionary

  1. builds upon
  2. buildup
  3. buildups
  4. Buildwas
  5. built
  6. built a better mousetrap
  7. built a case
  8. built air castles
  9. built bridges
  10. built castles in the air
  11. built character

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: built a better mousetrap (page history and authors); build a better mousetrap (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “built a better mousetrap.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/built_a_better_mousetrap. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.