qualm

Qualm — Qualm, n. [AS. cwealm death, slaughter, pestilence, akin to OS. & OHG. qualm. See {Quail} to cower.] 1. Sickness; disease; pestilence; death. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] thousand slain and not of qualm ystorve [dead]. Chaucer. [1913 Webster] 2. A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

qualm — qualm; qualm·ish; qualm·ish·ly; qualm·ish·ness; …   English syllables

qualm — qualm, scruple, compunction, demur can all denote a feeling of doubt or hesitation as to the rightness or wisdom of something one is doing or is about to do. Qualm implies an uneasy, often a sickening, sensation that one is not following the… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

Qualm — Sm std. (16. Jh., twalm 8. Jh.) Stammwort. Übernommen aus dem Niederdeutschen. Die nächstliegende Erklärung ist ein Anschluß an quellen, also das Hervorquellende ; es ist aber zu beachten, daß Wörter dieser Bedeutung in den indogermanischen… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

qualm — [kwäm] n. [ME qualme < OE cwealm, death, disaster (akin to Ger qual, pain, Swed kvalm, nausea) < base of cwellan, to kill (see QUELL): all extant senses show melioration of the orig. meaning] 1. a sudden, brief feeling of sickness,… …   English World dictionary

Qualm — 1) dicker Dampf od. Rauch; 2) das bes. in nassen Jahren hervorquellende od. an einem Ort sich sammelnde Wasser; 3) so v.w. Ekel, Betäubung; 4) was Unlust, Verwirrung verursacht …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

qualm — I noun anxiety, apprehension, apprehensiveness, compunction, concern, diffidence, disquiet, distrust, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiety, dubiousness, equivocalness, feeling of uncertainty, foreboding, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, incertitude,… …   Law dictionary

qualm — [kwa:m US kwa:m, kwa:lm] n [C usually plural] a feeling of slight worry or doubt because you are not sure that what you are doing is right ▪ Despite my qualms, I took the job. ▪ The manager has no qualms about dropping players who do not perform… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

qualm — (n.) O.E. cwealm (W.Saxon) death, disaster, plague, utcualm (Anglian) utter destruction, related to cwellan to kill, cwelan to die (see QUELL (Cf. quell)). Sense softened to feeling of faintness 1520s; meaning uneasiness, doubt is from 1550s;… …   Etymology dictionary

Qualm — (der) …   Kölsch Dialekt Lexikon

Qualm — Qualm: Der in hochd. Texten seit dem 16. Jh. bezeugte Ausdruck für »‹dicker› Rauch« stammt aus dem Niederd. Mnd. qual‹le›m »Dunst, Dampf, Rauch« gehört wahrscheinlich im Sinne von »Hervorquellendes« zu der Wortgruppe von ↑ quellen. – Abl.:… …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch