deathwatch









deathwatch


noun

  1. a vigil beside a dying or dead person.
  2. a guard set over a condemned person before execution.
  3. Also called deathwatch beetle. any of several beetles of the family Anobiidae that make a ticking sound as they bore through wood: the sound was once believed to be an omen of death.

noun

  1. a vigil held beside a dying or dead person
  2. deathwatch beetle a beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, whose woodboring larvae are a serious pest. The adult produces a rapid tapping sound with its head that was once popularly supposed to presage deathSee also anobiid
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