gambit

[ gam-bit ]
See synonyms for gambit on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Chess. an opening in which a player seeks to obtain some advantage by sacrificing a pawn or piece.

  2. any maneuver by which one seeks to gain an advantage.

  1. a remark made to open or redirect a conversation.

Origin of gambit

1
1650–60; <French <Spanish gambito or Italian gambetto (akin to Old French gambet, jambet), equivalent to gamb(a) leg + -etta-et

Other words for gambit

Words that may be confused with gambit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gambit in a sentence

  • (c) Counter Gambits, when the second player makes the sacrifice.

  • As if that kind of thing wasn't one of the best and oldest gambits in the great game of matrimony!

    Lady Connie | Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • The gambits of the great game of love are strangely limited, and there is little variation in the after-play.

    The Nebuly Coat | John Meade Falkner
  • Some purists suggested a firing party as a fitting end for these gambits, but that would have been a waste.

    Pan-Islam | George Wyman Bury

British Dictionary definitions for gambit

gambit

/ (ˈɡæmbɪt) /


noun
  1. chess an opening move in which a chessman, usually a pawn, is sacrificed to secure an advantageous position

  2. an opening comment, manoeuvre, etc, intended to secure an advantage or promote a point of view

Origin of gambit

1
C17: from French, from Italian gambetto a tripping up, from gamba leg

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012