SCRUPLE

scruple

(noun) an ethical or moral principle that inhibits action

scruple, qualm, misgiving

(noun) uneasiness about the fitness of an action

scruple

(noun) a unit of apothecary weight equal to 20 grains

scruple

(verb) have doubts about

scruple

(verb) raise scruples; “He lied and did not even scruple about it”

scruple

(verb) hesitate on moral grounds; “The man scrupled to perjure himself”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

scruple (plural scruples)

(pharmacy) A weight of 1/288 of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈).

Synonym: s.ap. (abbreviation)

(obsolete, by extension) A very small quantity; a particle.

Synonym: Thesaurus:modicum

(obsolete) A doubt or uncertainty concerning a matter of fact; intellectual perplexity.

Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience.

A Hebrew unit of time equal to 1/1080 hour.

Verb

scruple (third-person singular simple present scruples, present participle scrupling, simple past and past participle scrupled)

(intransitive) To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience.

(intransitive) To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple.

(transitive) To regard with suspicion; to question.

(intransitive, obsolete) To question the truth of (a fact, etc.); to doubt; to hesitate to believe, to question.

Anagrams

• curples

Source: Wiktionary

Scru"ple, n. Etym: [L. scrupulus a small sharp or pointed stone, the twenty-fourth part of an ounce, a scruple, uneasiness, doubt, dim. of scrupus a rough or sharp stone, anxiety, uneasiness; perh. akin to Gr. kshura: cf. F. scrupule.]

1. A weight of twenty grains; the third part of a dram.

2. Hence, a very small quantity; a particle. I will not bate thee a scruple. Shak.

3. Hesitation as to action from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; unwillingness, doubt, or hesitation proceeding from motives of conscience. He was made miserable by the conflict between his tastes and his scruples. Macaulay. To make scruple, to hesitate from conscientious motives; to scruple. Locke.

Scru"ple, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Scrupled; p. pr. & vb. n. Skrupling.]

Definition: To be reluctant or to hesitate, as regards an action, on account of considerations of conscience or expedience. We are often over-precise, scrupling to say or do those things which lawfully we may. Fuller. Men scruple at the lawfulness of a set form of divine worship. South.

Scru"ple, v. t.

1. To regard with suspicion; to hesitate at; to question. Others long before them . . . scrupled more the books of hereties than of gentiles. Milton.

2. To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple. [R.] Letters which did still scruple many of them. E. Symmons.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition