Definition

1. Noun:
   • A type of wood-boring insect: The deathwatch beetle is a small beetle whose larvae bore into wood, especially old structural timber.
   • Known for a distinctive sound: It is named for the tapping or ticking sound the adult makes, which was superstitiously believed to be an omen of death.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The old beams in the manor house were infested with the deathwatch beetle.
  • We could hear the faint ticking of a deathwatch beetle in the quiet library at night.

Advanced Usage

• "Deathwatch beetle infestation": A situation where a structure is heavily affected by these wood-boring insects.
  • The historic church required extensive restoration due to a severe deathwatch beetle infestation.

Variants and Related Words

• Deathwatch (n): The superstitious vigil kept by a dying person's bedside; also used as a shorter, informal name for the deathwatch beetle.
  • The superstitious sound gave the insect its common name, "deathwatch".
• Woodworm (n): A general term for the larvae of various beetles that bore into wood, which can include the deathwatch beetle.
  • The furniture was damaged by woodworm, possibly from deathwatch beetles.

Synonyms

• Xestobium rufovillosum: The scientific name for the deathwatch beetle.
• Wood-boring beetle: A general term for beetles whose larvae feed on wood.

Related Phrases

• Ticking beetle: An informal descriptive name referencing the insect's characteristic sound.
  • In the silence, the only noise was that of a ticking beetle in the rafters.

Noun

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