qualm Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun uneasiness about the fitness of an action
    scruple; misgiving.
  2. noun a mild state of nausea
    squeamishness; queasiness.

WordNet

Qualm noun
Etymology
AS. cwealm death, slaughter, pestilence, akin to OS. & OHG. qualm. See Quail to cower.
Definitions
  1. Sickness; disease; pestilence; death. Obs.
    thousand slain and not of qualm ystorve [dead]. Chaucer.
  2. A sudden attack of illness, faintness, or pain; an agony. " Qualms of heartsick agony." Milton.
  3. Especially, a sudden sensation of nausea.
    For who, without a qualm, hath ever looked On holy garbage, though by Homer cooked? Roscommon.
  4. A prick or scruple of conscience; uneasiness of conscience; compunction. Dryden.

Webster 1913