gambit

[ gam-bit ]

/ ˈgæm bɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gambit ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Chess. an opening in which a player seeks to obtain some advantage by sacrificing a pawn or piece.

any maneuver by which one seeks to gain an advantage.

a remark made to open or redirect a conversation.

Nearby words

gambia, gambian, gambian trypanosomiasis, gambier, gambier islands, gambit, gamble, gamblers' fallacy, gambling, gambling house, gamboge

Origin of gambit

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

SYNONYMS FOR gambit

2 ploy, stratagem, scheme, ruse.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gambit ON THESAURUS.COM

Can be confused

gambit gamut gantlet gauntlet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gambit

This gambit means Aereo is avoiding paying anything to broadcasters or the middlemen it is replacing.
What the Aereo Decision Means for You|Kyle Chayka|June 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
How did you arrive at him as your Gambit, and why did you decide to move away from Taylor Kitsch?
Simon Kinberg on ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past,’ ‘The Fantastic Four’ Reboot, and Black Superheroes|Marlow Stern|May 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One gambit is to require photo identification, a reasonable-sounding provision that 34 states have now adopted.
The ID Whose Time Has Come|Eleanor Clift|April 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But it is the backbone of the permanent warfare-state bureaucracy that keeps the gambit going.
The End of U.S. Imperium—Finally!|David Stockman|September 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST

In more general terms, though, the chained CPI gambit is not playing out so well for Obama, either.
A Republican Opera Buffa|Michael Tomasky|April 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Widow's gambit was played, and she had not won the game.
Elsie Venner|Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
His discernment or judgment is a spontaneous exercise of memory, and resembles the chess-playing skill of one who plays a gambit.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 377, March 1847|Various
Is the Knight's gambit recognized now as a permissible opening in chess?
Frenzied Fiction|Stephen Leacock
You begin to see now to what end the array is made, and understand why one Gambit differeth from another in glory and virtue.
Certain Personal Matters|H. G. Wells
A final game, in which she adopted the Muzio gambit as her opening, was terminated by Elfride's victory at the twelfth move.
A Pair of Blue Eyes|Thomas Hardy

British Dictionary definitions for gambit

gambit

/ (ˈɡæmbɪt) /

noun

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

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

Word Origin for gambit

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

gambit

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of gambit

SYNONYMS FOR gambit

Can be confused

Examples from the Web for gambit

British Dictionary definitions for gambit

gambit

noun

Word Origin for gambit