stratagem

Noun
Synonyms: ploygambitcontrivancedodge

WordNet 3.0

Noun (2)

  1. a maneuver in a game or conversationSynonyms: ploygambit
  2. an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade“his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track”Synonyms: contrivancedodge
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Stratagem \Strat"a*gem\, n. [F. stratag[`e]me (cf. Sp. estratagema, It. stratagemma), L. strategema, Gr. ?, fr. ? to be leader of an army, fr. ? a general; ? an army (probably as being spread out; cf. Stratum) + ? to lead. See Agent.] An artifice or trick in war for deceiving the enemy; hence, in general, artifice; deceptive device; secret plot; evil machination. [1913 Webster]

Fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Those oft are stratagems which error seem, Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

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