qualm

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The Word of the Day for May 26 is:

qualm   \KWAHM\   noun
     1 : a sudden attack of illness, faintness, or nausea
     2 : a sudden access of usually disturbing emotion (as doubt 
or fear)
    *3 : a feeling of uneasiness about a point especially of 
conscience or propriety

Example sentence:
     "This is the third time I've caught Lindsey cheating," said 
Judy, "so I have no qualms about turning her in."

Did you know?
     Etymologists aren't sure where "qualm" originated, but they 
do know it entered English around 1530. Originally, it referred 
to a sudden sick feeling. Robert Louis Stevenson made use of 
this older sense in _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_: "A qualm came 
over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadly shuddering." Soon 
after "qualm" entered the language, it came to designate not 
only sudden attacks of illness, but also sudden attacks of 
emotion or principle. _In The Sketch Book_, for example, 
Washington Irving wrote, "Immediately after one of these fits of 
extravagance, he will be taken with violent qualms of economy." 
Eventually, "qualm" took on the specific (and now most common) 
meaning of doubt or uneasiness, particularly in not following 
one's conscience or better judgment.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.