gambit

noun

gam·​bit ˈgam-bət 

1

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

2

a(1)

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

(2)

: topic

b

: 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.

Synonyms

• ruse
• scheme
• trick

Examples of gambit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The question with such a gambit would be whether there would be a market for Johnson, based on his limited 2024-25 sample, for a standard contract elsewhere. —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 22 June 2025

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel’s effort to decapitate the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict. —Aamer Madhani, Christian Science Monitor, 22 June 2025

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel ’s effort to decapitate the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict. —Aamer Madhani, Chicago Tribune, 21 June 2025

The gambit tied up the case in pretrial proceedings for years, only for the Biden-era Justice Department to drop the effort in 2023. —Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 18 June 2025

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

Phrases Containing gambit

• opening gambit

Rhymes for gambit

• ambit

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