Noun

(en noun)

A pricking of conscience or a feeling of regret, especially one which is slight or fleeting.

* :

[H]e would have had no compunction whatever in flinging him out of the highest window in Venice into the deepest water of the city.

* 1897 , , Dracula , ch. 3:

I felt no compunction in doing so, for under the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself in every way I could.

* 1920 , , Women in Love , ch. 8:

But he felt, later, a little compunction . He had been violent, cruel with poor Hermione. He wanted to recompense her, to make it up.

* 2003 February 16, Blaine Greteman, " No Peace Dividend," Time :

As for average U.S. consumers, they've shown little compunction about buying diamonds that fund bloody militias in Africa.

Noun

(en noun)

The act of objecting.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington

, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}

A statement expressing opposition, or a reason or cause for expressing opposition (generally followed by the adposition to ).

(legal) An official protest raised in a court of law during a legal trial over a violation of the rules of the court by the opposing party.