All 4 Uses of
scruples
in
Gulliver's Travels
- Neither did they at all scruple, while I was by, to discharge what they had drank, to the quantity of at least two hogsheads, in a vessel that held above three tuns.†
Chpt 2 *scruple = an ethical or moral principle that discourages certain kinds of action
- that a prince possessed of every quality which procures veneration, love, and esteem; of strong parts, great wisdom, and profound learning, endowed with admirable talents, and almost adored by his subjects, should, from a nice, unnecessary scruple, whereof in Europe we can have no conception, let slip an opportunity put into his hands that would have made him absolute master of the lives, the liberties, and the fortunes of his people!†
Chpt 2
- When this latter petition was interpreted to the Emperor, he seemed a little surprised; and said, "he believed I was the first of my countrymen who ever made any scruple in this point; and that he began to doubt, whether I was a real Hollander, or not; but rather suspected I must be a Christian.†
Chpt 3
- To say the truth, I had conceived a few scruples with relation to the distributive justice of princes upon those occasions.†
Chpt 4
Definitions:
-
(1)
(scruples) ethical or moral principles that discourage certain kinds of action
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, scruple can be used as a verb meaning "hesitate on moral grounds" as in "He lied and did not even scruple about it."
Even more rarely and archaically, at one time a scruple was a measure of weight equal to 20 grains (about 1.3 grams).