stalemate

[ steyl-meyt ]

noun

1. Chess. a position of the pieces in which a player cannot move any piece except the king and cannot move the king without putting it in check.
2. any position or situation in which no action can be taken or progress made; deadlock:

   Talks between union and management resulted in a stalemate.

   Synonyms: standstill, standoff, impasse

verb (used with object)

, stale·mat·ed, stale·mat·ing.

1. to subject to a stalemate.
2. to bring to a standstill.

verb (used without object)

, stale·mat·ed, stale·mat·ing.

1. to be or result in a stalemate or standoff:

   Negotiations stalemated when new salary demands were introduced.

stalemate

/ ˈsteɪlˌmeɪt /

noun

1. a chess position in which any of a player's possible moves would place his king in check: in this position the game ends in a draw
2. a situation in which two opposing forces find that further action is impossible or futile; deadlock

verb

1. tr to subject to a stalemate

Other Words From

• un·stalemated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stalemate¹

1755–65; late Middle English stale stalemate (whence Anglo-French estale ) (apparently special use of stale ¹ ) + mate ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of stalemate¹

C18: from obsolete stale , from Old French estal stall ¹+ mate ²

Example Sentences

Even if they do break the stalemate, it’s unclear whether the PUA will be extended.

From Axios

Senate Republicans are set to vote on their own legislation this week for another round of stimulus amid a stalemate on Capitol Hill over what the next package should look like.

From Fortune

If the stalemate continues, the hardest-hit states may have to start taking aggressive measures very soon.

From Fortune

After several years of stalemates, Netflix has opened up a dominant lead over rival HBO in Emmy nominations.

From Quartz

Which is why GE is looking to the future to break the stalemate.

From Singularity Hub 

And finally, there is the fact that most of the culture wars have reached a stalemate.

From The Daily Beast

By late August it looked like stalemate was almost certainly the tragic outcome of the years of war.

From The Daily Beast

There are thought pieces on the inevitable outcome of Twitter fights (likely a stalemate, depending on who you read).

From The Daily Beast

Webb believes he is just the sort of centrist leader who can break the Democrat-Republican stalemate in Washington.

From The Daily Beast

Coup attempts in the past have failed to do much more than add to chaos before a return to an uneasy stalemate.

From The Daily Beast

Along the Italian front the summer had developed something of the same kind of stalemate that had existed in France.

From Project Gutenberg

However, at least for the moment, he had reached a stalemate.

From Project Gutenberg

What is needed, therefore, is some hint or lead which will break this stalemate.

From Project Gutenberg

A stalemate existed between them in this strange battle, the like of which Ross's world had not known before.

From Project Gutenberg

Just how long that stalemate would have lasted they were not to know for another player came on the board.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• delay
• gridlock
• impasse
• standoff
• standstill