Adjacent Words

gambit definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an opening remark intended to secure an advantage for the speaker [syn: gambit, ploy]
2: a maneuver in a game or conversation [syn: ploy, gambit, stratagem]
3: a chess move early in the game in which the player sacrifices minor pieces in order to obtain an advantageous position

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Italian gambetto, literally, act of tripping someone, from gamba leg, from Late Latin gamba, camba, from Greek kamp? bend; probably akin to Gothic hamfs maimed, Lithuanian kampas corner Date: 1656 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

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a chess opening in which a player sacrifices a piece or pawn to secure an advantage. 2 an opening move in a discussion etc. 3 a trick or device. Etymology: earlier gambett f. It. gambetto tripping up f. gamba leg

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gambit Gam"bit, n. [F. gambit, cf. It. gambitto gambit, a tripping up. See Gambol, n.] (Chess Playing) A mode of opening the game, in which a pawn is sacrificed to gain an attacking position.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gambits) 1. A gambit is an action or set of actions, which you carry out in order to try to gain an advantage in a situation or game. He sees the proposal as more of a diplomatic gambit than a serious defense proposal... Campaign strategists are calling the plan a clever political gambit. = ploy, tactic N-COUNT: usu with supp 2. A gambit is a remark which you make to someone in order to start or continue a conversation with them. His favourite opening gambit is: 'You are so beautiful, will you be my next wife?'... Bernard made no response to Tom's conversational gambits. N-COUNT: usu with supp

Moby Thesaurus

alpha, approach, art, artful dodge, artifice, assay, attempt, bag of tricks, bid, blind, bluff, bosey, breaking-in, catch, chicanery, chouse, conspiracy, contrivance, coup, crack, craft, curve, curve-ball, cute trick, deceit, design, device, dirty deal, dirty trick, dodge, effort, endeavor, essay, expedient, experiment, fakement, fast deal, feint, fetch, ficelle, first, first blush, first glance, first impression, first inning, first lap, first move, first round, first sight, first stage, first step, fling, game, gimmick, go, googly, grift, hocus-pocus, initial, initiative, intrigue, jig, joker, juggle, jugglery, knavery, le premier pas, lick, little game, maneuver, move, offer, opening move, pass, plan, play, plot, ploy, prime, primitiveness, primitivity, racket, red herring, ruse, scheme, scurvy trick, shift, shot, sleight, sleight of hand, sleight-of-hand trick, stab, step, stratagem, strategy, stroke, strong bid, subterfuge, tactic, tentative, trial, trial and error, trick, trickery, try, undertaking, warming-up, whack, whizzer, wile, wily device