Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After years of jostling with Alatorre and his protege, Richard Polanco, Villaraigosa won over the former and checkmated the latter in his successful run for mayor in 2005.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2024

"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

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