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checkmate
[ chek-meyt ]
/ ˈtʃɛkˌmeɪt /
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noun
Also called mate. Chess.
- an act or instance of maneuvering the opponent's king into a check from which it cannot escape, thus bringing the game to a victorious conclusion.
- the position of the pieces when a king is checkmated.
a complete check; defeat: His efforts to escape met with a checkmate.
verb (used with object), check·mat·ed, check·mat·ing.
Chess. to maneuver (an opponent's king) into a check from which it cannot escape; mate.
to check completely; defeat: Napoleon was checkmated at Waterloo.
interjection
Chess. (used by a player to announce that he or she has put the opponent's king into inextricable check.)
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Origin of checkmate
1300–50; Middle English chek mat(e) <Middle French escec mat<Arabic shāh māt<Persian: literally, the king (is) checked, nonplussed
OTHER WORDS FROM checkmate
un·check·mat·ed, adjectiveWords nearby checkmate
check into, check ligament of eyeball, check line, checklist, checkmark, checkmate, checkoff, check on, checkout, check-over, checkpoint
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use checkmate in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for checkmate
checkmate
/ (ˈtʃɛkˌmeɪt) /
noun
chess
- the winning position in which an opponent's king is under attack and unable to escape
- the move by which this position is achieved
utter defeat
verb (tr)
chess to place (an opponent's king) in checkmate
to thwart or render powerless
interjection
chess a call made when placing an opponent's king in checkmate
Word Origin for checkmate
C14: from Old French eschec mat, from Arabic shāh māt, the king is dead; see check
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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