\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}.
             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.