throw a sprat to catch a mackerel

== English == === Pronunciation === === 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) (British, idiomatic) To sacrifice something of little value in the hope of gaining something better.