qualm

1. 1

   A feeling of apprehension, doubt, fear etc.

   • [W]ho vvould not rather Sleep Quietly upon a Hammock, vvithout either Cares in his Head, or Crudities in his Stomach, then lye Carking upon a Bed of State, vvith the Qualms and Tvvinges that accompany Surfeits and Exceſs?
   • "Do you have any particular qualms about leaving Pencey?" / "Oh, I have a few qualms, all right. Sure … but not too many. Not yet, anyway.[…]"
2. 2

   A sudden sickly feeling; queasiness.

3. 3

   A prick of the conscience; a moral scruple, a pang of guilt.

   • This lawyer has no qualms about saving people who are on the wrong side of the law.
4. 4

   Mortality; plague; pestilence.UKarchaicdialectal

5. 5

   A calamity or disaster.UKarchaicdialectal

syn. compunction · misgiving · scruple · unease · uneasiness · apprehension

1. 1

   To have a sickly feeling.intransitive