ounce vs scruple

ounce

noun
  • A troy ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₂ of a troy pound, or 480 grains, or 31.1035 grams. 

  • A British imperial fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₂₀ of an imperial pint, 1.7339 cubic inches or 28.4131 millilitres. 

  • An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.3495 grams. 

  • A US fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₁₆ of a US pint, 1.8047 cubic inches or 29.5735 millilitres. 

  • Synonym of onza, a particularly aggressive cougar or jaguarundi in Mexican folklore. 

  • Any small amount, a little bit. 

  • Synonym of snow leopard, Panthera uncia. 

scruple

noun
  • A weight of ¹⁄₂₈₈ of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈). 

  • Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience. 

  • A Hebrew unit of time equal to ¹⁄₁₀₈₀ hour. 

verb
  • To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple. 

  • To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience. 

  • To regard with suspicion; to question. 

How often have the words ounce and scruple occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )