death watchn.
/ˈdɛθ wɒtʃ/, U.S. /ˈdɛθ ˌwɑtʃ/, /ˈdɛθ ˌwɔtʃ/ 1. Any of various insects which make a tapping noise likened to the ticking of a watch, sometimes said to herald a death; esp. (more fully death watch beetle) a small beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum (family Anobiidae), the larvae of which bore into structural timbers, and (more fully lesser death watch) a common booklouse, Trogium pulsatorium.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > defined by sound > that ticks
death watch1668
death worm1729
death tick1853
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Diversicornia > family Anobiidae > xestobium rufovillosum (death-watch)
death watch1668
death worm1729
death tick1853
furniture beetle1915
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Diversicornia > family Anobiidae > member of genus Anobium
death watch1668
death worm1729
death tick1853
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. ii. v. §2. 127 Sheathed Winged Insects..That of a long slender body, frequent about houses, making a noise like the minute of a Watch..Death Watch.
1700 J. Astry tr. D. de Saavedra Fajardo Royal Politician II. 385 The Death-watch Spiders spread their curious Hair.
1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 110 I listened for death-watches in the wainscot.
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xxiv. 383 A little wood-louse..—which on that account has been confounded with the death-watch—is said also..to emit a ticking noise.
1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. II. 272 Both sexes, in the season of love, have the habit of calling one another by striking rapidly with their mandibles on the wood..This noise, similar to the accelerated beating of a watch, has occasioned..the vulgar name of Death-watch.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 132/2 Many of the Malacodermata are wood-borers; these include the Death-watch Beetles (Anobium).
1925 E. G. Blake Enemies of Timber vi. 136 The death-watch beetle..confines its activities exclusively to structural timbers.
1977 O. W. Richards & R. G. Davies Imms's Gen. Textbk. Entomol. (ed. 10) I. xi. 179 The Psocopteran Trogium pulsatorium (the ‘Lesser Death-watch’).
2000 Independent 3 Mar. 5/6 It was discovered that the joists were infested with both death watch beetle and common furniture beetle.
2. A vigil beside a corpse or a person who is dying. Also figurative.
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the world > life > death > obsequies > religious rites > [noun] > vigils
vigils1484
death watcha1676
a1676 J. Dunton Mourning Ring (1692) sig. A12v The solemn Wishes of a Person giving up the Ghost. The Death watch. [Etc.].
1830 N.Y. Cabinet 10 July 17 He wept on the field of battle over the affectionate dog, keeping his death-watch beside the remains of a master whose voice should never salute him more.
1898 G. Parker Battle of Strong xxxiv. 347 He placed his father's body in the row boat and..carried it on his shoulders up to the little house where he had lived so many years. There he kept the death-watch alone.
1938 Life 2 May 12 Here he hovered between life and death, day after day, while newshawks kept a deathwatch at his door.
1977 Rolling Stone 30 June 79/1 What was going to be a few jolly days of imbibing..has turned into a deathwatch. My older brother Bill..is dying of a particularly virulent form of cancer.
2003 C. L. Grace Maze of Murders iii. 68 It would take at least a day before the formal ritual of mourning was inaugurated with its fast and death watches.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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