Deathwatch

Part of speech: noun (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.

2. A small wingless insect, of the family Psocidæ, which makes a similar but fainter sound; -- called also deathtick. She is always seeing apparitions and hearing deathwatches. Addison. I did not hear the dog howl, mother, or the deathwatch beat. Tennyson.

3. The guard set over a criminal before his execution.