death·watch /ˈdɛθˌwɑʧ/
臨終的看護,死囚的監守人
Death·watch 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 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.
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deathwatch
n 1: minute wingless psocopterous insects injurious to books and
papers [syn: booklouse, book louse, Liposcelis
divinatorius]
2: bores through wood making a ticking sound popularly thought
to presage death [syn: deathwatch beetle, Xestobium
rufovillosum]