01 n. A pricking; stimulation.
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1.
A pricking; stimulation.[Obs.]“That acid and piercing spirit which, with such activity and compunction, invadeth the brains and nostrils.” — Sir T. Browne.
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2.
A picking of heart; poignant grief proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain; the sting of conscience.“He acknowledged his disloyalty to the king, with expressions of great compunction.” — Clarendon.
Syn.
Compunction, Remorse, Contrition.
Remorse is anguish of soul under a sense of guilt or consciousness of having offended God or brought evil upon one's self or others. Compunction is the pain occasioned by a wounded and awakened conscience. Neither of them implies true contrition, which denotes self-condemnation, humiliation, and repentance. We speak of the gnawings of remorse; of compunction for a specific act of transgression; of deep contrition in view of our past lives. See Regret.