| 单词 | to throw a sprat to catch a mackerel |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto throw a sprat to catch a mackerel a sprat to catch a mackerel and variants: a small outlay or risk ventured in the hope or expectation of a significant return; frequently in to throw a sprat to catch a mackerel. ΚΠ 1747 Fortune's Tricks in Forty-six 31 Know then, that the Ministry, in what they have done, have only thrown-out a Sprat to catch a Salmon. 1856 C. Reade It is never too Late III. vii. 58 Did you never hear of the man that flung away a sprat to catch a whale? 1876 Chambers's Jrnl. 1 Jan. 7/2 He is said to have actually sold certain classes of articles below prime cost. That..was safe only on the principle of throwing out a sprat to catch a herring. 1890 H. Caine Bondman ii. xiii Was he throwing a sprat to catch a mackerel? 1946 N.Z. Parl. Deb 270 510/1 They are offering a sprat to catch a mackerel. 1964 Oneonta (N.Y.) Star 11 June 5/2 Mr. Norris termed the recently announced distribution station here ‘a sprat to catch a whale’. 2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xli. 667 What a joke... A sprat to catch a mackerel. < as lemmas |
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