a bargaining chip

(British, American & Australian) also a bargaining counter (British)

something that you can use to make someone do what you want The workers' strongest bargaining chip in the negotiations is the threat of strike action. Hostages were used as a bargaining counter during the seige.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Staples	['steiplz]
Ortega	[ɔ:'teigə]
Anatol	-	Polish
Toygar	-	Turkish
Pancratius	-	Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Magdalena	mahg-dah-LE-nah (Polish), mahk-dah-LE-nah (German), MAHG-dah-le-nah (Finnish), mag-da-LAY-na (English)	Polish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Spanish, Occitan, Slovene, Czech, Bulgarian, Mace