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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
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 May 2025
This is more evidence that tariffs will not be sustainable and are likely still opening gambits for negotiations, albeit very strong ones.
—Brendan Ahern, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
Bertha sets her sights on a prize that would elevate the family to unimaginable heights; George risks everything on a gambit that could revolutionize the railroad industry.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 17 Apr. 2025
President Trump's administration is drastically shrinking the size and mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, part of a months-long gambit to scale back the financial regulator.
—CBS News, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gambit
Cite this Entry
“Gambit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gambit. Accessed 11 May. 2025.
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