Deathtick

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Deathwatch \Death"watch`\ (?; 224), n.
     1. (Zool.)
        (a) A small beetle ({Anobium tessellatum} and other allied
            species). By forcibly striking its head against
            woodwork it makes a ticking sound, which is a call of
            the sexes to each other, but has been imagined by


            superstitious people to presage death.
        (b) A small wingless insect, of the family {Psocid[ae]},
            which makes a similar but fainter sound; -- called
            also {deathtick}.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  She is always seeing apparitions and hearing
                  deathwatches.                     --Addison.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  I did not hear the dog howl, mother, or the
                  deathwatch beat.                  --Tennyson.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The guard set over a criminal before his execution.
        [1913 Webster]