Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - sympathy

~ n 1 the feeling of being sorry for someone who is in a bad situation and understanding how they feel  (He wants your sympathy so he's pretending to be sick. | have/feel sympathy for sb)  (I've a lot of sympathy for her; she brought up the children on her own. | have no sympathy for sb (=feel that someone deserves something bad that is happening to them) | play on sb's sympathy (=make someone feel sorry for you in order to gain an advantage for yourself) | you have my deepest sympathy formal (=used in a letter to someone whose close relative has died) | offer your sympathy formal)  (She wrote a letter offering her sympathy. | message/letter of sympathy)  (The victim's parents have received thousands of messages of sympathy.) 2 be in sympathy with also have sympathy for to agree with and support someone's aims and actions  (We have a lot of sympathy for your stand on lower taxes.) 3 come out in sympathy (with sb) to strike1 (4) in order to give support to other people who are striking  (The miners were on strike and the railwaymen came out in sympathy.) 4 sympathies plural a) feelings of support and approval  (sb's sympathies lie with)  (Anne's sympathies lie firmly with the Conservative Party.) b) a message of comfort to someone who is very upset because someone has died  (- see also tea and sympathy tea (5)) 5 a feeling that you understand someone because you are similar to them