deathliness (dethlines)

being deathly; resemblance to death in its aspects or phenomena. Not a blade of gra , not a flower, not even the hardiest lichen, springs up to relieve the utter deathline of the H. B. Stowe , Agnes of Sorrento, xviii. Middle ton, Mas singer, and Rowley , Old Law, iv. 1. These are all rings, death's - heads , and such mementos, Her grandmother and worm-eaten aunts left to her, To tell her what her beauty must arrive at. Fletcher, Wife for a Month, i. 2. 3. A name of one of the saimiri or titi monkeys of South America, Chrysothrix sciureus. Death's-head moth, or death's-head hawk-moth, Acherontia atropos, the largest species of lepidopterous insects found in Great Britain. The markings on the back of the thorax very closely resemble a skull or death's-head; Death's-head Moth ( Acherontia atropos ), about one half natural size. hence the English name. It measures from 4 to 5 inches in expanse of the wings. It emits peculiar sounds, somewhat resembling the squeaking of a mouse, but how these sounds are produced naturalists have not been able satisfactorily to explain. It attacks beehives, pillages the honey, and disperses the bees. It is regarded by the superstitious as the forerunner of death or some other calamity. Also called death - bird. death's-herb (deths'erb), n. The deadly nightshade, Atropa Belladonna. deathsman (deths' man), n.; pl. deathsmen (-men). An executioner; a hangman; one who executes the extreme penalty of the law; one who kills. IMG:content-2127.png:[blocks in formation] on standing up their hind legs and knocking their heads against the wood quickly and forcibly several times in succe ion, the number of distinct strokes being in general from to eleven. This is the call of the sexes. seven Few ears have escaped the noise of the death-watch: that is, the little clicking sound heard often in many rooms, somewhat resembling that of a watch; IMG:content-2128.png:[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] IMG:content-2129.png:[graphic] and this is conceived to be of an evil omen or prediction of some person's death. This noise is made by a little sheath-winged grey insect, found often in wainscot benches. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., ii. 7. "Alas! the poor gentleman will never get from hence," said the landlady to me- "for I heard the death - watch all night long." Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vi. 6. (b) A minute, wingle , pseudo neuropterous insect, Atro pos pulsator i us, of the family Psocide, a great pest in botanical and entomological collections. It also makes a ticking sound.