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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Deathwatch \Death"watch`\ (?; 224), 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 {Psocid[ae]},
which makes a similar but fainter sound; -- called
also {deathtick}.
[1913 Webster]

She is always seeing apparitions and hearing
deathwatches. --Addison.
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I did not hear the dog howl, mother, or the
deathwatch beat. --Tennyson.
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2. The guard set over a criminal before his execution.
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