Hypertext Webster Gateway: "scruple"

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.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

scruple
n 1: a unit of apothecary weight equal to 20 grains
2: uneasiness about the fitness of an action [syn: {qualm}, {misgiving}]
3: an ethical or moral principle that inhibits action
v 1: hesitate on moral grounds; "The man scrupled to perjure
himself"
2: raise scruples; "He lied and did not even scruple about it"
3: have doubts about

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