gambit
verbEtymology Borrowed from Italian gambetto (“act of tripping; gambit”), from gamba (“leg”) + -etto (diminutive suffix). First attested in 1656.
1
Board games, Chess, Games To sacrifice (a pawn or minor piece) to gain an advantage.
gambit
nounUS /ˈɡæmbɪt/
Etymology Borrowed from Italian gambetto (“act of tripping; gambit”), from gamba (“leg”) + -etto (diminutive suffix). First attested in 1656.
1
Board games, Chess, Games An opening in chess in which material is sacrificed to gain an advantage.
- Her clever gambit gave her an advantage.
2
Any ploy or stratagem.
- Their promise to lower taxes is clearly an election-year gambit.
- The Red Holocaust is best interpreted in this light as the bitter fruit of an^([sic]) utopian gambit that was socially misengineered into a dystopic nightmare by despots in humanitarian disguise.2009, Steven Rosefielde, Red Holocaust, page 240:
1 more example
- An opening sequence, featuring a de-aged Ford playing a younger Indy, is a bold and nostalgic gambit, offering a glimpse of what you've missed.2023 June 29, City AM, London, page 18, column 2:
3
A remark intended to open a conversation.
- Derived terms
- Botez gambit, countergambit, Evans Gambit, Galileo gambit, Kings's Gambit, Queen's Gambit, Queen's Gambit Declined, Stafford gambit, Stafford Gambit, Tennison Gambit, Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit, Xanatos gambit