Don’t let the similarities of sound and general flavor between gambit and gamble trip you up; the two words are unrelated. Gambit first appeared in English in a 1656 chess handbook that was said to feature almost a hundred illustrated gambetts. Gambett traces back first to the Spanish word gambito, and before that to the Italian gambetto, from gamba meaning “leg.” Gambetto referred to the act of tripping someone, as in wrestling, in order to gain an advantage. In chess, gambit (or gambett, as it was once spelled) originally referred to a chess opening whereby the bishop’s pawn is intentionally sacrificed—or tripped—to gain an advantage in position. Gambit is now applied to many other chess openings, but after being pinned down for years, it also finally broke free of chess’s hold and is used generally to refer to any “move,” whether literal or rhetorical, done to get a leg up, so to speak. While such moves can be risky, gambit is not synonymous with gamble, which likely comes from Old English gamen, meaning “amusement, jest, pastime”—source too of game.
I couldn't tell whether her earlier poor-mouthing had been sincere or just a gambit to get me to pick up the dinner check.
Recent Examples on the WebYet instead, Ukraine appears to have looked at the map, decided Russia was equally exposed, and turned Moscow’s gambit on its head.—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 13 Aug. 2024 And five of the Supreme Court’s six Republicans signed onto this gambit, prohibiting anyone from filing a federal lawsuit seeking to block the law.—Ian Millhiser, Vox, 15 Aug. 2024 That acquisition was part of a gambit to combine it with IMG Arena, which packages official league data to sell to sportsbooks, and create a tech and data giant to challenge Sportradar and Genius Sports.—Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 14 Aug. 2024 But that gambit failed to convince either Bangladeshis or the country’s outside partners.—Ali Riaz, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for gambit
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gambit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Spanish gambito, borrowed from Italian gambetto, literally, "act of tripping someone," from gamba "leg" (going back to Late Latin) + -etto, diminutive suffix — more at jamb
Share