Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A scheme or maneuver designed to achieve an objective, as in surprising an enemy or deceiving someone. synonym: wile.
- noun The devising or execution of such schemes or maneuvers.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An artifice in war; a plan or scheme for deceiving an enemy.
- noun Any artifice; a trick by which some advantage is intended to be obtained.
- noun Synonyms and
- noun Artifice, Manæuver. Trick, etc. See
artifice . - noun Deception, plot, trap, device, snare, dodge, contrivance.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An artifice or trick in war for deceiving the enemy; hence, in general, artifice; deceptive device; secret plot; evil machination.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A deceptive
tactic designed to gainthe upper hand . Typically, involvesunderhanded dealings andobfuscation .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade
- noun a maneuver in a game or conversation
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Can regulators distinguish this kind of stratagem from the case of fair and justified engineering decisions that happen to cause a little temporary jitter?
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If this adjustment in stratagem saved the lives or mission of just one crew, I would be thankful to God.
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The famous Duguesclin is said to have taken the town by stratagem from the English.
Béarn and the Pyrenees A Legendary Tour to the Country of Henri Quatre Louisa Stuart Costello 1834
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The word "Strategy" is a military term derives from the Greek word "stratagem" which means
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The stratagem is related by the author of the Gesta Francorum, the monk Robert Baldric, and Raymond des
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206
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Our 'stratagem' -- I have always liked the word, ever since I read _Tales of a Grandfather_, which I thought a great take-in, as it's just a history book, neither more nor less, and the only exciting part is when you come upon stratagems -- succeeded.
Peterkin Mrs. Molesworth 1880
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It's a typical Carter stratagem, which is nothing less than a view of the world where musical lines, like individual lives, intersect at changing speeds in endlessly changing contexts and sometimes, maybe only for a moment, come together.
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It's a typical Carter stratagem, which is nothing less than a view of the world where musical lines, like individual lives, intersect at changing speeds in endlessly changing contexts and sometimes, maybe only for a moment, come together.
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To move from theory toward the concrete, for years in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, I've seen Anglo social workers go after certain Chicano families — do so as agents of county officials who have discovered that such a stratagem is a damn good way to intimidate activist Chicano migrants.
In Loco Parentis Liszka, Jakob 1978
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The stratagem is a good one, and I dare say some hundreds of men will be added to the encamped army, while certain unconscious diplomatists are sipping their coffee, and complacently gazing at these fiery devices.
Journal of a Visit to Constantinople and Some of the Greek Islands in the Spring and Summer of 1833 John Auldjo
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