checkmate

American  

[chek-meyt] / ˈtʃɛkˌmeɪt /

noun

checkmates plural

1. Also called mate.  Chess.

   1. 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.

   2. the position of the pieces when a king is checkmated.

2. a complete check; defeat.

   His efforts to escape met with a checkmate.

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verb (used with object)

checkmates, present (3rd person singular) checkmated, past participle, past checkmating present participle

1. Chess. to maneuver (an opponent's king) into a check from which it cannot escape; mate.

2. to check completely; defeat.

   Napoleon was checkmated at Waterloo.

interjection

1. Chess. (used by a player to announce that they have put the opponent's king into inextricable check.)

checkmate British  

/ ˈtʃɛkˌmeɪt /

noun

1. chess

   1. the winning position in which an opponent's king is under attack and unable to escape

   2. the move by which this position is achieved

2. utter defeat

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verb

1. chess to place (an opponent's king) in checkmate

2. to thwart or render powerless

interjection

1. chess a call made when placing an opponent's king in checkmate

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• uncheckmated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• checkmates
  plural

Participles

• checkmating
  present
• checkmated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• checkmate
  simple
• checkmates
  simple
• have checkmated
  perfect
• has checkmated
  perfect
• am checkmating
  progressive
• are checkmating
  progressive
• is checkmating
  progressive
• have been checkmating
  perfect progressive
• has been checkmating
  perfect progressive

Past

• checkmated
  simple
• had checkmated
  perfect
• was checkmating
  progressive
• were checkmating
  progressive
• had been checkmating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will checkmate
  simple
• will have checkmated
  perfect
• will be checkmating
  progressive
• will have been checkmating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of checkmate

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English chek mat(e), from Middle French escec mat, from Arabic shāh māt, from Persian: literally, “the king (is) checked, nonplussed”

Explanation

Checkmate is a chess move that makes it impossible for your opponent to win. A checkmate can also be any kind of clear victory. In chess, a checkmate is a move that leaves your opponent with no more options: there is no move that won't result in you getting their king and therefore ending the game. Since a checkmate is so final, the word is used for other kinds of final victories. In basketball, a three-point shot that seals a win could be called a checkmate. In politics, a speech that wins votes and wraps up an election could be called a checkmate.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

checkmate checkmates checkmated checkmating

As Kagan put it, “if this isn’t checkmate, it’s close.”

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

Ackman presented the director’s allyship as a checkmate even though, once again, neither he nor Oxman denied any of the reporting on the substance.

From Slate ● Jan. 10, 2024

Black rightly seeks queenside counterplay but can’t shake White’s single-minded focus on checkmate on the other wing: 19.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 12, 2023

"It's checkmate, we're screwed," one Tory MP remarked.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2022

“Eventually I would checkmate the other guy,” he chuckled when he described the experience years later.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

The finale presents a remarkable range of checkmates for the hapless Black king: 24.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 21, 2023

Rxa8, and White soon to be queened pawn will help deliver checkmates in a couple of moves.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 8, 2022

She exploits every scrap of ironic humor, as Richard gloatingly checkmates all who stand in her way.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2018

Karjakin threatened no less than four checkmates, and there’s no way Carlsen could have sidestepped them all.

From Slate ● Dec. 1, 2016

In sixty seconds flat, she checkmates her opponent’s king.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

"She's almost checkmated herself. She can't U-turn. And pressing on seems terminal too," a former Downing Street spinner observes.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2022

It insisted the game was a draw, even though I had thoroughly checkmated my kid.

From The Verge ● Nov. 5, 2021

In the first rapid game Adams was White in the ultra-solid Berlin Wall butMcShane launched a fierce attack which ended with Adams’s white king checkmated at d7, deep in the black camp.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 14, 2018

The game overwhelmed her at first, so many pieces and movements, but years passed and progress was made, and eventually she checkmated her dad.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 14, 2018

Papa had just checkmated Jaja when we heard the martial music on the radio, the solemn strains making us stop to listen.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

That is as humiliating as it gets — to have somebody say, “You suck, Uncle Jake,” spelled wrong while checkmating me.

From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2024

Partly that was because of the checkmating defense by his old coach, Bill Belichick, and partly it was the pelting rain and chill winds, which had once been his home-field allies.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2021

Harris was also asked about Chargers receiver Keenan Allen’s dismissive comments about Harris last week after the Broncos star cornerback was primarily responsible for checkmating the league’s top receiver in Denver’s 20-13 win.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 15, 2019

They imagined they could corral him and use him to achieve their own purposes, such as checkmating labor unions and reasserting German strength.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2018

At your last move you might have redeemed all former disasters by checkmating your opponent in two moves.

From The Blue Book of Chess Teaching the Rudiments of the Game, and Giving an Analysis of All the Recognized Openings by Staunton, Howard