Word.ws English Dictionary

throw a sprat to catch a mackerel

throw a sprat to catch a mackerel verb: to sacrifice something of little value in the hope of gaining something better.

Verb

throw a sprat to catch a mackerel (third-person singular simple present throws a sprat to catch a mackerel, present participle throwing a sprat to catch a mackerel, simple past threw a sprat to catch a mackerel, past participle thrown a sprat to catch a mackerel)

  1. (UK, idiomatic) To sacrifice something of little value in the hope of gaining something better.
    • It is pertinent to remember that in 1892, the M.S.W.J.R. had secured from the L.S.W.R. running powers between Andover and Southampton Dock, so no doubt the "Solent Scheme" should properly be regarded as a sprat set (successfully) to catch a mackerel.1948 November and December, “Notes and News: Southampton and the M.S.W.J.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 410

Forms of throw a sprat to catch a mackerel

third-person singular presentthrows a sprat to catch a mackerel
present participlethrowing a sprat to catch a mackerel
pastthrew a sprat to catch a mackerel
past participlethrown a sprat to catch a mackerel

Questions about throw a sprat to catch a mackerel

What does throw a sprat to catch a mackerel mean?
Throw a sprat to catch a mackerel means to sacrifice something of little value in the hope of gaining something better.
What part of speech is throw a sprat to catch a mackerel?
Throw a sprat to catch a mackerel is a verb.
What is the past tense of throw a sprat to catch a mackerel?
The past tense of throw a sprat to catch a mackerel is threw a sprat to catch a mackerel.

Words near throw a sprat to catch a mackerel in the dictionary

  1. throw a monkey wrench into the works
  2. throw a party
  3. throw a sickie
  4. throw a spanner in the works
  5. throw a spanner into the works
  6. throw a sprat to catch a mackerel
  7. throw a tantrum
  8. throw a wet blanket on
  9. throw a wobbly
  10. throw a wrench in
  11. throw a wrench in the gears

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throw a sprat to catch a mackerel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-throw a sprat to catch a mackerel.ogg.

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