gambit

plural gambits · alternative obsolete gambett

1. board gamesAn opening in chess in which material is sacrificed to gain an advantage.

   Her clever gambit gave her an advantage.

2. Any ploy or stratagem.

   Their promise to lower taxes is clearly an election-year gambit.

   2 more examples

   The Red Holocaust is best interpreted in this light as the bitter fruit of an^([sic]) utopian gambit that was socially misengineered into a dystopic nightmare by despots in humanitarian disguise.

   2009, Steven Rosefielde, Red Holocaust, page 240

   An opening sequence, featuring a de-aged Ford playing a younger Indy, is a bold and nostalgic gambit, offering a glimpse of what you've missed.

   2023 June 29, City AM, London, page 18, column 2

3. A remark intended to open a conversation.

present singular third person gambits · participle present gambiting · participle past gambited · past gambited · alternative obsolete gambett

1. transitiveboard gamesTo sacrifice (a pawn or minor piece) to gain an advantage.