deathwatch

[ deth-woch, -wawch ]
/ ˈdɛθˌwɒtʃ, -ˌwɔtʃ /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR deathwatch ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a vigil beside a dying or dead person.
a guard set over a condemned person before execution.
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.

Origin of deathwatch

First recorded in 1660–70; death + watch

Words nearby deathwatch

deathlike, deathly, deathplace, deathsman, deathtrap, deathwatch, deathy, deattribute, deattribution, deauville, deave

Words related to deathwatch

vigil, watch, obsequies

Example sentences from the Web for deathwatch

  • It sounds to me like the echoing tick, tick of some great beetle; like the sort of noise which a deathwatch makes, you know.

    The Lock And Key Library |Various

  • The deathwatch, like conscience, doth make cowards of us all.

    George Cruikshank's Omnibus |George Cruikshank

  • In the wainscot of the room a deathwatch ticked its doleful omen.

    The Golden Dog |William Kirby

  • Every pulse-beat is in exact time with the cricket's chant and the tickings of the deathwatch in the wall.

    Excursions and Poems |Henry David Thoreau

British Dictionary definitions for deathwatch

deathwatch
/ (ˈdɛθˌwɒtʃ) /

noun

a vigil held beside a dying or dead person
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 death See also anobiid