How to Use bargaining chip in a Sentence

bargaining chip

noun
Definition of bargaining chipnext
  • Did the Mafia want a bargaining chip to help free a member from prison?
    — Tom Mashberg, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024
  • John Oliver is using kitchen equipment that used to belong to Red Lobster as a bargaining chip to get his face on a cake.
    — Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 10 June 2024
  • So hitting a number, or reaching a goal, becomes a kind of bargaining chip.
    — Outside Online, 16 Jan. 2025
  • Washington and its allies are sure to offer that prospect as a bargaining chip.
    — Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2024
  • Threats like this could have been a bargaining chip or just Barkley being Barkley, saying whatever popped into his head.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 6 Aug. 2024
  • If Ukraine’s future were to become Trump’s bargaining chip, that could prompt a series of shattering knock-on effects.
    — Liana Fix, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2024
  • In other words, this is a close account of the conflict that laid the foundations for Gaza as a perennial flashpoint — a refuge, a bargaining chip and a battlefield.
    — Boris Kachka, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2023
  • More than 100 men, women and children are still being kept prisoners by Hamas, and this is our only bargaining chip.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 24 Feb. 2024
  • The threat of Swift being deposed could be used as a bargaining chip to force a settlement in the case before going to trial next year, the analysts contend.
    — Jager Weatherby, New York Daily News, 6 Feb. 2025
  • Attackers can leverage these high stakes as a bargaining chip in ransomware attacks and force victims to pay or meet their demands.
    — Michelle Drolet, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024
  • Israel wants female soldiers to be among the hostages released in this group, but Hamas aims to hold on to them as a bargaining chip for a subsequent deal, the former Egyptian official said.
    — Hazem Balousha, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2024
  • That chunk of Kursk could be a valuable bargaining chip for Kyiv in any future negotiations with Moscow.
    — David Axe, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024
  • There’s also another potential cost of using tariffs as a bargaining chip: a loss of trust from friends and allies.
    — Matt Egan, CNN, 10 Dec. 2024
  • Pavel continues to be the authorities’ bargaining chip when Tomáš gets a job at Czechoslovak Radio.
    — Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 2 Dec. 2024
  • Astros third baseman Alex Bregman earned his first career Gold Glove, which should be a good bargaining chip for his upcoming free agency.
    — David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
  • In some cases, though, it's being used as a bargaining chip, with buyers and sellers negotiating who pays the buyer's fee.
    — Mimi Montgomery, Axios, 8 Oct. 2024
  • That punted the question of future aid to Ukraine and left some Republicans bemoaning how the issue has become a politicized bargaining chip.
    — Karoun Demirjian, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2023
  • The timing of both arrests and releases has led to speculation that Sala was used as a bargaining chip in exchange for Abedini's release.
    — Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Three of the defendants, with agreement with the judges and prosecutors, used the charges of illegally possessing firearms as a bargaining chip to get other charges reduced.
    — Letter Writers, Twin Cities, 12 May 2024
  • At the time, many Republicans, including the Tea Party group, were pushing for major structural fiscal reforms and saw the debt limit as a bargaining chip.
    — Josh Wingrove, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2023
  • As such, hanging on to territory in Kursk could prove a useful bargaining chip, although doing so could come at a high cost in the face of a stronger and more organized response by Russia to the incursion.
    — Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 15 Aug. 2024
  • The people on the frontline are these librarians and teachers who are having an absolute nightmare, all in the name of a political bargaining chip.
    — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2023
  • If McCarthy and his minions refuse to honor their own fiscal obligations, Biden should disregard them; that’s his most valuable bargaining chip.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2023
  • China could also use its ability to sit down with all parties as a bargaining chip to pressure other countries to respect its interests.
    — Bonny Lin, Foreign Affairs, 17 May 2023
  • King will almost certainly be used as propaganda by North Korea, and later be made a bargaining chip to extract concessions from the United States.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 25 July 2023
  • Others are hoping for a bargaining chip during the negotiating process or are trying to avoid moving into a home that might be a local tourist attraction.
    — Rachel Kurzius, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2023
  • The Biden administration rushed to unload aid to Ukraine during the transition amid concerns that Trump would use military assistance as a bargaining chip.
    — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2025
  • And using emergency aid as a bargaining chip is not exactly an unknown behavior on Capitol Hill.
    — Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 3 Apr. 2024
  • The group has already effectively held hostage more than two dozen of Parson’s nominees for statewide agencies, boards and commissions as a bargaining chip with Senate leadership.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 24 Jan. 2024
  • More than just a work of art — or a metaphor for an oppressed people’s revenge fantasy — the contraption becomes a bargaining chip in a desperate bid by Indian royalty to fend off British conquest.
    — Mark Athitakis, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bargaining chip.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: