checkmate

The definition of checkmate is a move in the game of chess when the King is trapped and cannot escape or move out of harm's way.

(noun)

When you have been finally and completely defeated in a chess game and there is no way for you to come back and win, this is an example of checkmate.

See checkmate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

Chess
1. the move that wins the game by checking the opponent's king so that it cannot be protected
2. the condition of the king after such a move
complete defeat, frustration, etc.

Origin: ME chek mat < OFr eschec mat, ult. < Pers šāh māt, lit., the king is dead < šāh, king + māt, he is dead

interjection

Chess used to signify that one's opponent's king is in checkmate

See checkmate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb check·mat·ed, check·mat·ing, check·mates

To attack (a chess opponent's king) in such a manner that no escape or defense is possible, thus ending the game.
To defeat completely.

noun

a. A move that constitutes an inescapable and indefensible attack on a chess opponent's king.
b. The position or condition of a king so attacked.
Utter defeat.

interjection

Used to declare the checkmate of an opponent's king in chess.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English chekmat

Origin: , from Old French eschec mat

Origin: , from Arabic šāh māt, the king is dead

Origin: : šāh, king (from Persian shāh; see shah)

Origin: + māt, died (from earlier māta, to die; see mwt in Semitic roots)

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