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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scruple \Scru"ple\, verb (used with an object)
1. To regard with suspicion; to hesitate at; to question.
Others long before them . . . scrupled more the books of heretics 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 The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scruple \Scru"ple\, noun [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 The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scruple \Scru"ple\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Scrupled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Scrupling}.] 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) 2.0 [wn]:
scruple
noun
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
verb
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
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
235 Moby Thesaurus words for "scruple": Pyrrhonism, ace, apprehension, atom, awake a doubt, back down, balance, balk, balk at, bashfulness, be diffident, be doubtful, be dubious, be skeptical, be uncertain, beef, better self, bit, bitch, blench, boggle, boggling, boycott, call in question, challenge, complain, complaint, compunction, conscience, conscientiousness, contest, cry out against, dab, debate, deliberate, demonstrate, demonstrate against, demonstration, demur, demurral, demurrer, diffidence, discomfort, dispute, distrust, distrustfulness, dole, dot, doubt, doubtfulness, dram, dribble, driblet, dubiety, dubiousness, dwarf, enter a protest, exception, expostulate, expostulation, falter, faltering, farthing, fastidiousness, fear, fight shy of, fleck, flinch, flyspeck, fragment, fret, gag, gobbet, grain, granule, greet with skepticism, grievance, grievance committee, groat, hair, half believe, half-belief, handful, hang back, hang off, harbor suspicions, have qualms, have reservations, hem and haw, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitate, hesitation, hold off, holler, hover, howl, hum and haw, indignation meeting, iota, jib, jot, kick, leeriness, little, little bit, lota, make bones about, march, meticulousness, minim, minimum, minutiae, misdoubt, misgive, misgiving, mistrust, mistrustfulness, mite, modesty, modicum, molecule, mote, nonviolent protest, nutshell, object, objection, ounce, overconscientiousness, overscrupulousness, pangs, pangs of conscience, particle, pause, pebble, picket, picketing, pinch, pittance, point, point of honor, ponder, press objections, pricking of heart, protest, protest demonstration, protestation, pull back, punctilio, punctiliousness, quail, qualm, qualm of conscience, qualmishness, qualms, query, question, raise a howl, raise a question, rally, recoil, reconsideration, reluctance, remonstrance, remonstrate, remonstration, retreat, scrap, scruples, scrupulosity, scrupulousness, second thought, second thoughts, self-doubt, shadow of doubt, shilly-shally, shred, shrink, shrink from, shrinking, shy, shy at, shyness, sit in, sit-in, skepticalness, skepticism, smell a rat, smidgen, smitch, speck, spoonful, spot, squawk, squeamishness, state a grievance, stick, stick at, stickle, stickling, stop to consider, straddle the fence, strain, strain at, strike, stumble, suspect, suspicion, suspiciousness, teach in, teach-in, thimbleful, think twice about, throes, throw doubt upon, tiny bit, tittle, total skepticism, touch of conscience, treat with reserve, trifling amount, trivia, twinge of conscience, uncertainty, uneasiness, vacillate, voice of conscience, wariness, waver, whit, wince, withdraw, worry, yell bloody murder, yield
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