gambit

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 12, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>gambit</strong> &#149; \GAM-bit\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p>A <em>gambit</em> is something done or said in order to gain an advantage or to produce a desired effect.</p> <p>// The workers’ opening <em>gambit</em> in the negotiations was to demand a wage hike. </p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gambit">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“In a sign of mounting frustration, Multnomah County’s top prosecutor Monday released a list of the cases of nearly 300 people who have had charges dismissed against them this year because no public defenders were available to represent them. ... [District Attorney Mike] Schmidt’s move to publicize all cases that judges have dismissed—believed to be a first in Oregon—raises public awareness but also clearly is a <em>gambit</em> to put public pressure on the state to find a remedy.” — Aimee Green, <em>The Oregonian</em>, 22 Nov. 2022 </p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Don’t let the similarities of sound and general flavor between <em>gambit</em> and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamble"><em>gamble</em></a> trip you up; the two words are unrelated. <em>Gambit</em> first appeared in English in a 1656 chess handbook that was said to feature almost a hundred illustrated <em>gambetts</em>. <em>Gambett</em> traces back first to the Spanish word <em>gambito</em>, and before that to the Italian <em>gambetto</em>, from <em>gamba</em> meaning “leg.” <em>Gambetto</em> referred to the act of tripping someone, as in wrestling, in order to gain an advantage. In chess, <em>gambit</em> (or <em>gambett</em>, 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 posit