gambit

noun

gam·bit ˈgam-bət

Synonyms of gambit next

: a chess opening in which a player risks one or more pawns or a minor piece to gain an advantage in position

a(1)

: a remark intended to start a conversation or make a telling point

(2)

: topic

: a calculated move : stratagem

Did you know?

Don’t let the similarities of sound and general flavor between gambit and gamble trip you up; the two words are unrelated. Gambit first appeared in English in a 1656 chess handbook that was said to feature almost a hundred illustrated gambetts. Gambett traces back first to the Spanish word gambito, and before that to the Italian gambetto, from gamba meaning “leg.” Gambetto referred to the act of tripping someone, as in wrestling, in order to gain an advantage. In chess, gambit (or gambett, as it was once spelled) originally referred to a chess opening whereby the bishop’s pawn is intentionally sacrificed—or tripped—to gain an advantage in position. Gambit is now applied to many other chess openings, but after being pinned down for years, it also finally broke free of chess’s hold and is used generally to refer to any “move,” whether literal or rhetorical, done to get a leg up, so to speak. While such moves can be risky, gambit is not synonymous with gamble, which likely comes from Old English gamen, meaning “amusement, jest, pastime”—source too of game.

Examples of gambit in a Sentence

I couldn't tell whether her earlier poor-mouthing had been sincere or just a gambit to get me to pick up the dinner check.

Recent Examples on the Web The last-minute gambit became another flashpoint this week in the debate over Price’s approach to reimagining the East Bay’s justice system, with the relatives of Benison and Maria Tran criticizing the move as a sign of Price being too lenient on crime. —

Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2024 The gambit revolved around the longest of shots and a confusing and constricted ticket-buying system in a small stadium, which seats 16,744 for baseball. —

Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2024 Such social dysfunction can run the gambit from disrespecting norms of conduct to violations of constitutional principles to electoral interference. —

Clifford Young, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024 This suggests Macdonald’s gambit of going with lighter boxes to minimize big plays and maximize takeaways is a smart one. —

Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 11 Jan. 2024 The bold legal gambit may ultimately fail in court. —

J. David Goodman, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024 In addition to the Garvey gambit, the cryptocurrency industry funded a withering campaign aimed at torpedoing Porter’s candidacy. —

Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Mar. 2024 One gambit might be to lean on an early pandemic-era move used by the likes of Delta Air Lines and others: Cashing in on its loyalty program, TrueBlue. —

Melvin Backman, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024 Waldman’s own gambit is to locate and lift up the meaningful details, the humanizing ones, that reveal her characters in their full complexity. —

Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gambit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Spanish gambito, borrowed from Italian gambetto, literally, "act of tripping someone," from gamba "leg" (going back to Late Latin) + -etto, diminutive suffix — more at jamb

First Known Use

1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of gambit was in 1656

See more words from the same year