gambit

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an opening remark intended to secure an advantage for the speaker
noun a maneuver in a game or conversation
noun a chess move early in the game in which the player sacrifices minor pieces in order to obtain an advantageous position

Borrowed from Italian gambetto (“act of tripping; gambit”), from gamba (“leg”) + -etto (diminutive suffix). First attested in 1656.

Finally he abandoned that gambit. — Tales of Space and Time, H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
Noda's first gambit had been countered, but there would be more. — The Samurai Strategy, Thomas Hoover
For the thirty-seventh time, Parker started on the opening gambit which he had devised to suit his purpose. — Unnatural death, Dorothy L. (Dorothy Leigh) Sayers

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