scruple : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: scruple	by the DICT Development Group
4 results for scruple
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
scruple n a unit of apothecary weight equal to 20 grains uneasiness about the fitness of an action Synonym(s): scruple, qualm, misgiving an ethical or moral principle that inhibits action v hesitate on moral grounds; "The man scrupled to perjure himself" raise scruples; "He lied and did not even scruple about it" have doubts about
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Scruple \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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Scruple \Scru"ple\, n. [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. [?] the chippings of stone, [?] a razor, Skr. 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Scruple \Scru"ple\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Scrupled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Skrupling}.] 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.