checkmate
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English chekmat, from Old French eschec mat, from Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta), from Classical Persian شاه مات (šāh māt, “the king [is] amazed”).
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
checkmate
- (chess) Word called out by the victor when making a move that wins the game.
- (by extension) Said when one has placed a person in a losing situation with no escape.
Alternative forms edit
Synonyms edit
- (chess): mate
Translations edit
said when making the conclusive move in chess
|
Noun edit
checkmate (countable and uncountable, plural checkmates)
- The conclusive victory in a game of chess that occurs when an opponent's king is threatened with unavoidable capture.
- (figuratively, by extension) Any losing situation with no escape; utter defeat.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
conclusive victory in a game of chess
|
losing situation with no escape
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb edit
checkmate (third-person singular simple present checkmates, present participle checkmating, simple past and past participle checkmated)
- (transitive, chess) To put the king of an opponent into checkmate.
- That jerk checkmated me in four moves!
- (transitive, by extension) To place in a losing situation that has no escape.
Translations edit
to put an opponent into checkmate
|
to lead to a situation of no escape
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Arabic
- English terms derived from Classical Persian
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English interjections
- en:Chess
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples