spare a thought for

verb

To think about someone or something.

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Meanings

verbspare a thought for (third-person singular simple present spares a thought for, present participle sparing a thought for, simple past and past participle spared a thought for)

present singular third person spares a thought for · participle present sparing a thought for · participle past spared a thought for · past spared a thought for

  1. To think about someone or something.

    These lines survive, but who now recalls a journey to Macmerry, or to Carmyllie, or spares a thought for the Solway Junction Railway with its gaunt and lonely viaduct?

    1958 July 29, J. P. Wilson, “Scottish Soliloquy”, in Railway Magazine, page 495
Cite this entry
APA

spare a thought for. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spare%20a%20thought%20for

MLA

“spare a thought for.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spare%20a%20thought%20for. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spare a thought for,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spare%20a%20thought%20for.

Source: spare a thought for on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.