Meanings
noundeathwatch (plural deathwatches)
plural deathwatches
- A vigil beside a dying person
- One who guards a condemned person before execution.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounminute wingless psocopterous insects injurious to books and papers
Similar
Broader
psocopterous insect
nounbores through wood making a ticking sound popularly thought to presage death
Similar
deathwatch beetleXestobium rufovillosum
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian бдение при умиращ, бръмбар-гробар
- бдение при умиращ (bdenie pri umirašt)a vigil beside a dying person
- бръмбар-гробар (brămbar-grobar)a deathwatch beetle
Catalan escarabat del rellotge de la mort
- escarabat del rellotge de la morta deathwatch beetle
Finnish valvojaiset, ruumiinvalvojaiset
- valvojaiseta vigil beside a dying person
- ruumiinvalvojaiseta vigil beside a dying person
- puunkaivajaa deathwatch beetle
German Totenwache
- Totenwachea vigil beside a dying person
Russian дежу́рство у постели умершего, бо́дрствование у постели умирающего
- дежу́рство у постели умершего (dežúrstvo u posteli umerševo)a vigil beside a dying person
- бо́дрствование у постели умирающего (bódrstvovanije u posteli umirajuščevo)a vigil beside a dying person
- точильщик пёстрый (točilʹščik pjóstryj)a deathwatch beetle
- книжная вошь (knižnaja vošʹ)a deathwatch beetle
Cite this entry
APA
deathwatch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deathwatch
MLA
“deathwatch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deathwatch. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deathwatch,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deathwatch.
Source: deathwatch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.