Deathwatch /(?; 224)/

Death·watch

Deathwatch

n.
  1. 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. (Zool.)
    She is always seeing apparitions and hearing deathwatches.
    I did not hear the dog howl, mother, or the deathwatch beat.
  2. The guard set over a criminal before his execution.