gambit
pronunciation
How to pronounce gambit in British English:
UK [ˈgæmbɪt]
How to pronounce gambit in American English:
US [ˈɡæmbɪt]
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- Noun:
- an opening remark intended to secure an advantage for the speaker
- a maneuver in a game or conversation
- a chess move early in the game in which the player sacrifices minor pieces in order to obtain an advantageous position
Word Origin
- gambit
- gambit: [17] Like gambol [16], gambit originated in an Italian noun meaning literally ‘tripping up’. The Italian for ‘leg’ is gamba (a relative of English gammon ‘bacon’). From it were derived gambetto and gambata, both of which signified ‘trip-up’. The former was borrowed into Spanish as gambito, where its underlying notion of ‘underhanded procedure’ was first applied specifically to a chess manoeuvre in the mid- 16th century.It passed into English mainly via French gambit. More frivolous, light-hearted aspects of ‘tripping’ are preserved in gambata, which English originally took over via French as gambade and gradually transformed into gambol.=> gambol, gammon
- gambit (n.)
- "chess opening in which a pawn or piece is risked for advantage later," 1650s, gambett, from Italian gambetto, literally "a tripping up" (as a trick in wrestling), from gamba "leg," from Late Latin gamba (see gambol (n.)). Applied to chess openings in Spanish in 1561 by Ruy Lopez, who traced it to the Italian word, but the form in Spanish generally was gambito, which led to French gambit, which has influenced the English spelling of the word. Broader sense of "opening move meant to gain advantage" in English is recorded from 1855.
Example
- 1. What is an example of such a clever gambit ?
- 2. What might be the impact of this gambit on the north 's mostly successful peace settlement ?
- 3. The more underhanded gambit is the decision to bash the insurance industry at every turn .
- 4. And they have done it using one very effective conversational gambit : billions of dollars .
- 5. Hyundai followed up its super bowl gambit with an ad blitz in abc 's academy awards broadcast , its first national play with the oscars .