gambitgam‧bit /ˈɡæmbɪt/ noun [countable] 
a clever debating gambit These questions are often an opening gambit (=the thing you say first) for a negotiation.2a planned series of moves at the beginning of a game of chess
WORD ORIGINgambit
Origin:
1600-1700 Italian gambetto ‘act of making someone fall over’, from gamba ‘leg’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a political gambit
- At other times it is a gambit to extract the maximum price concession from the seller.
- His exit, when he truly is on his last legs, is his most effective gambit.
- Nobody knew whether or not it worked but we derived a certain pleasure from the savagery of the gambit.
- Still, this was a tidy, interesting account of a clever gambit from the University of Florence.
- There are few conversational gambits in discussions or meetings.
WORD SETS
backgammon, nounbishop, nounboard game, nouncapture, verbcastle, nouncheck, nouncheckerboard, nouncheckmate, nounchess, nounchessboard, nounchessman, nounChinese chequers, nouncompendium, nouncounter, noundraughtboard, noungambit, nounludo, nounman, nounmate, nounmate, verbmove, verbmove, nounParcheesi, nounpawn, nounpiece, nounqueen, nounqueen, verbrook, nounScrabble, nounsquare, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY These questions are often an opening gambit (=the thing you say first) for a negotiation.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSVERB
1something that you do or say which is intended to give you an advantage in an argument: These questions are often an opening gambit (=the thing you say first) for a negotiation.· Warwick's opening gambit is to blur the line between consciousness and intelligence.
a clever debating gambit These questions are often an opening gambit (=the thing you say first) for a negotiation.2a planned series of moves at the beginning of a game of chess