SCRUPLES

conscience, scruples, moral sense, sense of right and wrong

(noun) motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person’s thoughts and actions

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Noun

scruples

plural of scruple

Verb

scruples

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of scruple

Source: Wiktionary

SCRUPLE

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