deathwatch

(det̸hwäc̸h′)

noun

  1. a vigil kept beside a dead or dying person
  2. a guard set over a person soon to be executed
  3. any of various insects, esp. any of a family (Anobiidae) of wood-burrowing beetles whose heads make a tapping sound superstitiously regarded as an omen of death

See deathwatch in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. A vigil kept beside a dying or dead person.
  2. One who guards a condemned person before execution.
  3. A deathwatch beetle.

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