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Deathwatch beetle

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of various beetles of the family Anobiidae, now usually included in family Ptinidae, especially Xestobium rufovillosum, that bore into wood and make a tapping sound.

    "And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch: Because like a watch it always cries click; Then woe to those in the house who are sick,"

  2. 2
    bores through wood making a ticking sound popularly thought to presage death wordnet

Etymology

Compound of death + watch + beetle. The sound the beetles make is said to resemble a ticking watch, and is sometimes believed to herald death. Attested (as death watch) from the late 17th century.

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