Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

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.

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.

Source : WordNet®

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

scruple
     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