The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
QUALM
scruple, qualm, misgiving
(noun) uneasiness about the fitness of an action
queasiness, squeamishness, qualm
(noun) a mild state of nausea
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
qualm (plural qualms)
A feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc. [from 16th c.]
A sudden sickly feeling; queasiness. [from 16th c.]
A prick of the conscience; a moral scruple, a pang of guilt. (Now often in negative constructions.) [from 17th c.]
(archaic, UK dialectal) Mortality; plague; pestilence.
(archaic, UK dialectal) A calamity or disaster.
Synonyms
• compunction
• misgiving
• scruple
• unease/uneasiness
• See apprehension
Verb
qualm (third-person singular simple present qualms, present participle qualming, simple past and past participle qualmed)
(intransitive) To have a sickly feeling.
Source: Wiktionary
Qualm, n. Etym: [AS. cwealm death, slaughter, pestilence, akin to OS. & OHG. qualm. See Quail to cower.]
1. Sickness; disease; pestilence; death. [Obs.] thousand slain and not of qualm ystorve [dead]. Chaucer.
2. A sudden attack of illness, faintness, or pain; an agony. " Qualms of heartsick agony." Milton.
3. Especially, a sudden sensation of nausea. For who, without a qualm, hath ever looked On holy garbage, though by Homer cooked Roscommon.
4. A prick or scruple of conscience; uneasiness of conscience; compunction. Dryden.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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