/ ˈsteɪlmeɪt; NAmE / noun
1.
[ U , C , usually sing. ] a disagreement or a situation in a competition in which neither side is able to win or make any progress
SYN impasse :
The talks ended in (a) stalemate.
2.
[ U , sing. ] ( in chess ) a situation in which a player cannot successfully move any of their pieces and the game ends without a winner
—compare checkmate
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 18th cent.: from obsolete stale (from Anglo-Norman French estale position, from estaler be placed) + mate (in the chess sense).