noun
bores through wood making a ticking sound popularly thought to presage death
• Syn: ↑deathwatch, ↑Xestobium rufovillosum
• Hypernyms: ↑beetle
• Member Holonyms: ↑Anobiidae, ↑family Anobiidae
* * *
nounsee deathwatch I
* * *
deathwatch beetle noun
A beetle that produces a ticking noise, found esp in house timbers (genus Xestobium)
• • •
Main Entry: ↑death
* * *
deathwatch beetle,
= deathwatch (def. 3). (Cf. ↑deathwatch)
Useful english dictionary. 2012.