Word.ws English Dictionary

the second mouse gets the cheese

the second mouse gets the cheese proverb: others reap the advantages after a first mover absorbs the loss of a first-mover disadvantage.

Proverb

the second mouse gets the cheese

  1. Others reap the advantages after a first mover absorbs the loss of a first-mover disadvantage.
    • A product recall later sent his Livonia, Mich., company into bankruptcy. Its remains were sold to a Fargo businessman who moved the business there and later sold it to DaimlerChrysler, just as California's first electric car mandates were looming. "We were the story of how the second mouse gets the...2007 February 26, John J. Fialka, “Thrifty Electric Car Turns On One Town”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2024
    • Operating on what is often known as the "second mouse gets the cheese" principle, [Mason] Holland appears to be interested in retaining what was valuable about the airplane's design, after the wreck of the original company's finances.2009 August 20, James Fallows, “More reassuring news: new life for Eclipse?”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...

Examples of the second mouse gets the cheese in a sentence

  • "We were the story of how the second mouse gets the cheese," Mr. [Dan] Sturges says.2007 February 26, John J. Fialka, “Thrifty Electric Car Turns On One Town”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones &...
  • "There was a saying around here: The second mouse gets the cheese," he [Chris Ford] said of Scotiabank's historic aversion to tech spending.2016 July 22, David Berman, Tim Kiladze, “Shaking up Scotiabank: Brian Porter’s vision for a bank of the future”, in The Globe and Mail...

Origin of the second mouse gets the cheese

Referring to a mousetrap with cheese as bait: after a mouse is captured in it, another mouse is able to take the cheese.

Questions about the second mouse gets the cheese

What does the second mouse gets the cheese mean?
The second mouse gets the cheese means others reap the advantages after a first mover absorbs the loss of a first-mover disadvantage.
How do you use the second mouse gets the cheese in a sentence?
"We were the story of how the second mouse gets the cheese," Mr. [Dan] Sturges says.
What part of speech is the second mouse gets the cheese?
The second mouse gets the cheese is a proverb.

Words near the second mouse gets the cheese in the dictionary

  1. the screwing you get isn't worth the screwing you get
  2. the screwing you get isn't worth the screwing you take
  3. the screwing you get isn't worth the screwing you're going to get
  4. The Scum
  5. The Sea
  6. the second mouse gets the cheese
  7. The Settlement
  8. the seven bells
  9. the shape of things to come
  10. the shirt off one's back
  11. the shit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the second mouse gets the cheese (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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