tactical — ODE

tactical /ˈtaktɪkl

▸ adjective

1 relating to or constituting actions carefully planned to gain a specific military end:

as a tactical officer in the field he had no equal.

▪ (of bombing or weapons) done or for use in immediate support of military or naval operations. Often contrasted with strategic:

NATO already has about 7,000 tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.

2 showing adroit planning; aiming at an end beyond the immediate action:

in a tactical retreat, she moved into a hotel with her daughters.

3 British English (of voting) aimed at preventing the strongest candidate from winning by supporting the next strongest, without regard to one's true political allegiance:

Labour supporters in the city organized a tactical voting campaign.

– ORIGIN late 16th century (in the sense ‘relating to military or naval tactics’): from Greek taktikos (see tactic) + -al.