Deathwatch Beetle (Noun)
Meaning
Bores through wood making a ticking sound popularly thought to presage death.
Classification
Nouns denoting animals.
Examples
- The old mansion was said to be haunted by the ominous sound of a deathwatch beetle, which the locals believed signaled an impending demise.
- In the dead of night, the ticking of the deathwatch beetle echoed through the empty halls, sending shivers down the spines of the brave souls who dared to enter.
- According to folklore, the deathwatch beetle's rhythmic tapping was a harbinger of doom, a warning that death was lurking in the shadows.
- As the family gathered around the ailing patriarch, they couldn't help but notice the faint ticking of a deathwatch beetle in the wooden beams above, a sound that seemed to grow louder with each passing moment.
- The superstition surrounding the deathwatch beetle was so strong that people would often avoid old houses with wooden structures, fearing that the beetle's ominous ticking would seal their fate.