Deathwatch

Deathwatch
Deathwatch Death"watch` (?; 224), n. 1. (Zo["o]l.) (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]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • deathwatch — [deth′wäch΄] n. 1. a vigil kept beside a dead or dying person 2. a guard set over a person soon to be executed 3. any of various insects, esp. any of a family (Anobiidae) of wood burrowing beetles whose heads make a tapping sound superstitiously… …   English World dictionary

  • Deathwatch — The term Deathwatch may refer to: Deathwatch (play), French playwright Jean Genet s earliest play (Haute Surveillance) Jean Genet s play Haute Surveillance, produced by Vic Morrow and Leonard Nimoy, directed by Morrow and starring Nimoy… …   Wikipedia

  • Deathwatch — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel Deathwatch Produktionsland Vereinigtes Königreich, Deutschland, Frank …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • deathwatch — n. to maintain a deathwatch * * * to maintain a deathwatch …   Combinatory dictionary

  • deathwatch — I. noun Etymology: death + watch (timepiece); from the superstition that its ticking presages death Date: 1646 a small insect that makes a ticking sound; especially deathwatch beetle II. noun Etymology: death + watch (vigil) Date: circa 1890 …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • deathwatch — /deth woch , wawch /, n. 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… …   Universalium

  • deathwatch — noun 1. minute wingless psocopterous insects injurious to books and papers • Syn: ↑booklouse, ↑book louse, ↑Liposcelis divinatorius • Hypernyms: ↑psocopterous insect • Hyponyms: ↑common booklouse, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • Deathwatch (comics) — Deathwatch Deathwatch Publication information Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance …   Wikipedia

  • Deathwatch (novel) — Deathwatch   …   Wikipedia

  • Deathwatch (play) — Deathwatch (French: Haute Surveillance) is a play written by Jean Genet in 1947, performed for the first time in Paris at the Théâtre des Mathurins in February 1949 under the direction of Jean Marchat. Plot Three prisoners are locked up in the… …   Wikipedia

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