I. ˈchekˌmāt interjection
Etymology: Middle English chekmate, from Middle French eschec mat, from Arabic shāh māt, from Persian, literally, the king is left unable to escape, from shāh king + māt left, perplexed, from māndan to remain, from Middle Persian, from Old Persian man-; akin to Avestan man- to remain — more at check , mansion
— used in chess to tell an opponent that his king has been checkmated
II. “, usu -ād.+V transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English chekmaten, from chekmate, n.
1. : to arrest, check, thwart, or counter completely
for several centuries Britain checkmated the rise of rival powers on the continent of Europe by a balance-of-power policy — H.W.Baldwin
2. : to check (a chess opponent's king) so that escape from or capture of the attacking piece is impossible
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English chekmate, from chekmate, interjection
1.
a. : the act of checkmating
b. : the situation of a checkmated king — called also mate
2. : a complete check : an utter defeat : effective thwarting or countering
to give checkmate to an old adversary