it was impossible to believe that he could be defeated. There was no stratagem that he was not equal to, no danger that he could not foresee.
George Orwell. 1984 (1949)
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Blackadder: Yes... Perhaps a preferable stratagem, Your Grace, might be to harry him amid-ships as he leaves the Mediterranean. Trafalgar might be quite a good spot...
Wellington: Trafalgar? Well, I'll mention it to Nelson. I must say I'm beginning to regret the necessity of killing you, Your Highness. I'd been told by everybody that the Prince was a confounded moron.
BBC. Blackadder, season 3: Duel and Duality
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if they did not return to the boat, perhaps we might find a way to get between them and the shore, and so might use some stratagem with them in the boat to get them on shore.
Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe
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The author, by an extraordinary stratagem, prevents an invasion.