Meaning of deathwatch beetle | Babel Free

Definitions

Any of various beetles of the family Anobiidae, now usually included in family Ptinidae, especially Xestobium rufovillosum, that bore into wood and make a tapping sound.

Equivalents

Examples

“And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch: Because like a watch it always cries click; Then woe to those in the house who are sick,”

“A very deadly enemy to woodwork in churches and other buildings is the creature known as the Death Watch beetle (anobium tessellatum, or rufovillosum).”

CEFR level