opening gambit
noun
: a first move
Their opening gambit in the negotiations was to demand a wage hike.
Examples of opening gambit in a Sentence
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While Trump’s plan is saddled with moral, legal and practical obstacles, it may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic to try to ratchet up pressure on Hamas or as an opening gambit in a bargaining process aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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Freddie Clayton, NBC News, 9 Feb. 2025
But it may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic by Trump, to try to ratchet up pressure on Hamas or as an opening gambit in a bargaining process aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
—Tia Goldenberg, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2025
President Volodymyr Zelensky and his aides have maintained that Ukraine will stop fighting only if it is granted NATO membership—a position widely understood to be an opening gambit for talks.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2024
This year, the league title is just the opening gambit.
—Peter Rutzler, The Athletic, 28 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for opening gambit
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Freddie Clayton, NBC News, 9 Feb. 2025
But it may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic by Trump, to try to ratchet up pressure on Hamas or as an opening gambit in a bargaining process aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
—Tia Goldenberg, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2025
President Volodymyr Zelensky and his aides have maintained that Ukraine will stop fighting only if it is granted NATO membership—a position widely understood to be an opening gambit for talks.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2024
This year, the league title is just the opening gambit.
—Peter Rutzler, The Athletic, 28 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for opening gambit
Cite this Entry
“Opening gambit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opening%20gambit. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
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