scruple
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈskɹuːpəl/
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈskɹupəl/
Noun

scruple (plural scruples)

  1. (obsolete) A weight of frac 1 of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, in England about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈).
    Synonyms: s.ap.
    • 1725, [Noël] Chomel, “BEZOAR-STONE ↗”, in R[ichard] Bradley, editor, Dictionaire Oeconomique: Or, The Family Dictionary. […], in Two Volumes, […], volume II (I–Z), London: Printed for D. Midwinter, […], OCLC 991191027 ↗:
      Bezoar (Horſe) called Hypolites, excites Sweat, reſiſts Poiſon, kills the Worms, and ſtops a Looſeneſs; the Doſe is from half a Scruple to two Scruples.
  2. (obsolete, by extension) A very small quantity; a particle.
    Synonyms: Thesaurus:modicum
  3. (obsolete) A doubt#Noun|doubt or uncertainty concerning a matter of fact; intellectual perplexity.
  4. Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right#Adjective|right or expedient; doubt#Noun|doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motive#Noun|motives of conscience.
  5. A Hebrew unit of time#Noun|time equal to frac 1080 hour.
Translations Verb

scruple (scruples, present participle scrupling; past and past participle scrupled)

  1. (intransitive) To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience.
  2. (intransitive) To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple.
  3. (transitive) To regard with suspicion; to question#Verb|question.
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To question the truth of (a fact, etc.); to doubt#Verb|doubt; to hesitate to believe, to question.
    I do not scruple to admit that all the Earth seeth but only half of the Moon.
Translations
  • Russian: стесня́ться
  • Spanish: escrúpulo



This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.046
Offline English dictionary