Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An expedient for achieving a goal; a maneuver.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or pertaining to the motions of organisms in relation to external agents; exhibiting taxis.
- Same as tactical.
- n. A tactical system or method; the use or practice of tactics.
Wiktionary
- n. A manoeuvre, or action calculated to achieve some end.
- adj. Describing a polymer whose repeat units are identical
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to military or naval tactics; hence, pertaining to, or characterized by, planning or maneuvering for the short term; -- contrasted with
strategic , planning for the long term. - n. See tactics.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a plan for attaining a particular goal
Etymologies
- French tactique, tactics, from Greek taktika; see tactics.
Examples
“Forget the emotional content of this particular bill, this tactic is the most infantile, ridiculous approach a politician could take, and the lizard-brains on the right gobble it up.”
Matthew Yglesias » Obstructionism from Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) Boosting Lord’s Resistance Army
“The prime time for this tactic is after a sunny warm front has baked the surface water for a few days.”
“Among divorcing couples, this tactic is a way to keep one spouse from getting at the asset.”
Compromise is vital to forming a successful financial life together
“The arguing tactic is called "special pleading," and it's a dirty rhetorical trick indeed!”
“The Republican tactic is to raise objections because they never have anything positive to say themselves.”
“Other analysts think Standard Chartered's analysis may be right, though they note that if China has, in fact, cut back on new Treasury purchases, it could be a short-term tactic—and it doesn't necessarily mean China is riding to Europe's rescue or wants to do so.”
The Wall Street Journal: Beijing's Moves Point to Europe Aid
“I have a very simple method for determining if a tactic is torture or not.”
Think Progress » CPAC audience boos former GOP Rep. Bob Barr for saying waterboarding is torture.
“Do you also know that the person in charge of this new PR tactic is none other than Ari Fleischer?”
“Oh, and another typically conservative tactic is to co-opt the most successful movies as paeans to conservative cultural/political concepts.”
Think Progress » Steele on serving as RNC chair: God has ‘placed me here for a reason.’
“Whatever the rationale, Fox News ongoing witch hunt tactic is a proven loser.”
The Huffington Post: Timothy Karr: Fox News Tries to Foreclose on Sesame Street
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tactic’.
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