Death″watch′ (?; 224), n. 1. (Zoöl.) (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 Psocidæ, which makes a similar but fainter sound; — called also deathtick.
She is always seeing apparitions and hearing deathwatches. Addison.
I did not hear the dog howl, mother, or the deathwatch beat. Tennyson.
2. The guard set over a criminal before his execution.