checkmate

[ chek-meyt ]

/ ˈtʃɛkˌmeɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR checkmate ON THESAURUS.COM

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.)

Nearby words

checkerwork, checkhook, checking account, checklist, checkmark, checkmate, checkoff, checkout, checkpoint, checkpoint charlie, checkrail

Origin of checkmate

1300–50; Middle English chek mat(e) < Middle French escec mat < Arabic shāh māt < Persian: literally, the king (is) checked, nonplussed

Related forms

un·check·mat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for checkmate

Under these circumstances many devices were resorted to to checkmate their political moves.
The Roots of Southern Voter Intimidation|David Frum|February 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Once a case is made that a leak might be imminent, it is checkmate: the agent is thwarted.
Catching the Next WikiLeaker|Eli Lake|October 20, 2011|DAILY BEAST
You can bet your life 'at this job's been done by them whose little game Wallingford were going to checkmate!
In the Mayor's Parlour|J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher
He must checkmate England and openly throw his influence into the German scale.
A Modern Mercenary|Kate Prichard and Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Prichard

Seems to me it's about the most beautiful case of checkmate that I've known.
The Scouts of Stonewall|Joseph A. Altsheler
"The checkmate shall be perfect and complete by the move of one knight alone," returned Philidor.'
The Humour and Pathos of Anglo-Indian Life|Dr. Ticklemore
Once more this is checkmate, for the K has no possible move.
Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do|Anonymous

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012