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Webster 1913 Edition

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. [GREEK] the chippings of stone, [GREEK] 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
.
Shakespeare
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

,
Verb.
I.
[
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.

Scru′ple

,
Verb.
T.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Scruple

SCRU'PLE

,
Noun.
[L. scrupulus, a doubt; scrupulum, the third part of a dram, from scrupus, a chess-man; probably a piece, a small thing, from scrapping, like scrap.]
1.
Doubt; hesitation from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; backwardness; reluctance to decide or to act. A man of fashionable honor makes no scruple to take another's life, or expose his own. He has no scruples of conscience, or he despises them.
2.
A weight of twenty grains, the third part of a dram; among goldsmiths, the weight of 24 grains.
3.
Proverbially, a very small quantity.
4.
In Chaldean chronology, the 1/1080 part of an hour; a division of time used by the Jews, Arabs, &c..
Scruple of half duration, an arch of the moon's orbit, which the moon's center describes from the beginning of an eclipse to the middle.
Scruples of immersion or incidence, an arch of the moon's orbit, which her center describes from the beginning of the eclipse to the time when its center falls into the shadow.
Scruples of emersion, an arch of the moon's orbit, which her center describes in the time from the first emersion of the moon's limb to the end of the eclipse.

SCRU'PLE

,
Verb.
I.
To doubt; to hesitate.
He scrupl'd not to eat, against his better knowledge.

SCRU'PLE

,
Verb.
T.
To doubt; to hesitate to believe; to question; as, to scruple the truth or accuracy of an account or calculation.

Definition 2024

scruple

scruple

English

Noun

scruple ‎(plural scruples)

  1. (obsolete) A weight of twenty grains; the third part of a dram.
  2. (obsolete) Hence, a very small quantity; a particle.
    • Ca 1601–1608, Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II Scene 3 221–222
      Paroles: I have not, my lord, deserved it. Lafeu: Yes, good faith, ev'ry dram of it, and I will not bate thee a scruple.
  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. - Thomas Babington Macaulay.
  4. (obsolete) A doubt or uncertainty concerning a matter of fact; intellectual perplexity.
  5. A measurement of time. Hebrew culture broke the hour into 1080 scruples.

Synonyms

  • (precise weight): s.ap.
  • (small amount): see also Wikisaurus:modicum.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive) 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. - Thomas Fuller.
    Men scruple at the lawfulness of a set form of divine worship. - Robert South.
  2. To regard with suspicion; to hesitate at; to question.
    Others long before them ... scrupled more the books of hereties than of gentiles. - John Milton.
  3. (obsolete) To doubt; to question; to hesitate to believe; to question the truth of (a fact, etc.).
    I do not scruple to admit that all the Earth seeth but only half of the Moon.
  4. To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple.
    Letters which did still scruple many of them. -E. Symmons.

Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

From Old French scrupule, from Latin scrūpulus ‎(“uneasiness of mind, trouble, anxiety, doubt, scruple, literally a small sharp or pointed stone, the twenty-fourth part of an ounce”), diminutive of scrūpus ‎(“a rough or sharp stone, anxiety, uneasiness”); perhaps akin to Ancient Greek σκύρος ‎(skúros, “the chippings of stone”), ξυρόν ‎(xurón, “a razor”), Sanskrit क्षुर ‎(kṣura, “a razor”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈskɹuː.pəl/
  • Rhymes: -uːpəl

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