All 5 Uses
scruples
in
The Portrait of a Lady - Volume 2
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- "I think I shall have no scruple in saying that to YOU," she bravely returned.†
Chpt 38 *scruple = an ethical or moral principle that discourages certain kinds of action
- It had given him indeed such an air of intending to live indefinitely that Mrs. Touchett, though more accessible to confusions of thought in the matter of this strange, unremunerative—and unremunerated—son of hers than she had ever been before, had, as we have learned, not scrupled to embark for a distant land.†
Chpt 39
- Isabel would have invited her again (there was no question of inviting the Count); but Osmond, after his marriage, had not scrupled to say frankly that Amy was a fool of the worst species—a fool whose folly had the irrepressibility of genius.†
Chpt 44
- You seem to have so many scruples, so many reasons, so many ties.†
Chpt 51
- The effect of this agitation was a sudden sense of being very tired, under the influence of which she overcame her scruples and sank into the rustic seat.†
Chpt 55
Definitions:
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(1)
(scruples) principles that discourage certain kinds of action
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(2)
(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).