gambit

Definition

An opening in chess in which a minor piece or a pawn is sacrificed to gain an advantage.

Etymology

From Italian gambetto (“act of tripping; gambit”), from Italian gamba (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba.

Example Sentences

• "Her clever gambit gave her an advantage."
• "Their promise to lower taxes is clearly an election-year gambit."
• "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."