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]
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